


Whisper

by PhantomKuro



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Demon, M/M, Suga is such a mom, everyone is convinced Kageyama is nuts, ghost - Freeform, hinata is lonely, how to socialize 101, kageyama is anxious, oikawa is an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:15:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 29,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24661387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomKuro/pseuds/PhantomKuro
Summary: Kageyama enters Karasuno as a first year and becomes a member of the volleyball club. Training, training, training and his new orange haired teammate's endless babbling inbetween and during it, yet Kageyama notices how much he is enjoying his time with the first friend he has."Kageyama... see... I just wanted to know if there is anything wrong. Are you feeling well? I hope Tanaka didn't get on your nerves, he is quite the troublesome character.""I'm okay. Uhh... can I ask you something?""Sure!" Suga smiled and gave him a look which could even encourage him to study English vocabulary."Why are you never training with Hinata? Why is that dumbass only pestering me? You can toss to him, too."Sugawara's smile faltered ever so slightly and confusion settled in his concerned eyes."Hinata...?"Kageyama didn't understand the bewilderment of his fellow setter; he simply nodded over to the bouncy orange head who devoured a pack of juice. Sugawara swallowed and Kageyama noticed this."Kageyama..." Suga's voice had dropped a little, making sure none of the others would stumble over their conversation, "There is no one over there."
Relationships: Asanoya, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, kagehina
Comments: 5
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

Kageyama gripped his bag tightly as he stared up at the large school he was assigned to. Karasuno. Somehow, this building was impressive yet normal at the same time. Highschoolers flooded the area and everywhere around him chatter filled the air. A gentle breeze caressed his skin and ushered him to go forward, the smell of cherry blossoms around him invited him further and crows stared from the roof down onto him. How ironic, crows in Karasuno.  
Kageyama took a deep breath and stepped into the building.

The day proceeded without any events, however, Kageyama didn't bother to pay too much attention in the lessons. He could see the gym from his classroom and the fact he was going to play volleyball in there in the afternoon really fired him up with motivation. How his team would be, Kageyama wondered. Was there a good setter? Were they focused on attack or defense? How many club members?  
"Kageyama Tobio! Is there anything more important than my lesson?!" the teacher called him out and Kageyama flinched, sat up straight and shook hastily his head.  
"N-no, sensei."  
"Good."

As soon as the last bell chimed, Kageyama was gone so fast nobody saw him even moving. He didn't know what it was, what pulled him towards this special place, but he wasn't going to fight against his instincts.  
He rushed into the hall and came to a halt as three members of the club stood there, gathered for the greeting. Kageyama swallowed and immediately bowed as a sign of respect while one of them tried to make scary faces at him.  
"K-Kageyama Tobio! Setter!"  
The other two smiled and the silver haired one whistled admiring, "Wow! You are Kageyama Tobio? I've heard so much about you- Tanaka stop that!"  
The brown haired male laughed and, after having smacked the immature Tanaka, went to introduce himself.  
"I'm Sawamura Daichi, that is Sugawara Koushi and this moron here is Tanaka Ryuunosuke. I'm the captain."

Kageyama nodded silently and let his first impression sink in. Suga didn't seem too strong, yet his fingers were long and slim and he looked like he was able to read Kageyama himself like an open book- a guess, he was the setter. Ugh. Hopefully, Kageyama wouldn't loose his former place as a regular. Daichi made a strong and broad impression, yet he was too calm. What was he? Wing spiker? Middle blocker? Libero? Definitely not a setter. Tanaka, however, was definitely a wing spiker. This atmosphere, his body language, all of it screamed at Kageyama "I'm gonna crush you until nothing is left". In a way, he was glad. At least those three already promised a good team.

"Kageyama?"  
While the three were engulfed in a talk Kageyama noticed the tiny orange haired boy close by. A wonder he hadn't noticed his presence yet, that annoyance was barely overseeable now that he saw him.  
"Hm?"  
"Great name! I'm Hinata Shouyou! I'm a middleblocker!"  
Kageyama wrinkled his nose and turned with a scoff away.  
"You? You're too tiny to be a middleblocker. With you we'll loose right away."  
Hinata gasped outraged and started to jump up and down, surprisingly reaching Kageyama's shoulders with his feet.  
"What?! Say that again!! I can jump!! I'm gonna spike over your head!!"  
"So?!" Kageyama barked and got the attention of the other three who stared at him weirdly.  
"1 vs 1!! Now!! I'll prove you how much better I am than you!"  
"How on earth do you want to play 1 vs 1?!"  
Hinata came to a halt and spluttered something about receiving, clearly embarassed he hadn't thought that through the end. Kageyama scoffed again and walked towards the volleyballs to intiate the training he had been waiting for the entire day.

The training was fun, two other first years joined soon enough, Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi. Tsukishima was a living monster and Kageyama didn't like him on the first comment of "King". Hinata stared confused at Kageyama and tilted his head so adorable it was illegal.  
"King...? W-what does he mean? Why are you a King?!"  
Kageyama clenched his teeth and his default Kageyama-glare changed into the 'I'm going to murder you' glare, directed at Tsukishima, who seemed to have made it to his personal task to piss his Highness off. While Suga held it for better to refrain from prying further into this obviously sensitive topic, Tanaka had no idea of tactfulness and drilled deeper into the wound.

Kageyama Tobio, selfish and arrogant King of the Court, his Highness who got left by his old team mates.

Tsukishima loved the look on Kageyama's face. The look of defeat, frustration, anger because he was right.  
Hinata scrunched up his nose and stepped protectively in front of Kageyama who was mildly surprised by his antics.  
"Could you stop picking on him?! Why always him?! Kageyama grew up or not?! He learned from his mistakes!! I'm sure he is a good person and all you're doing is blabbering about King this and King that!! Shut up already Tsukishima!!"  
Kageyama blinked twice and narrowed his eyes onto the tiny middle blocker. Since when did he need someone 1,60 to defend him? Tsukishima didn't make the impression he was fazed by the entire tantrum Hinata was throwing this very moment and just rolled his eyes.  
"No response huh? Poor King, did a peasant upset you?"  
"Tsukishima enough!!" Daichi barked and the blonde retreated with a smirk Kageyama wanted to punch out of his face. Daichi was a good captain and probably someone Kageyama could rely on, however, this he would have to prove in a game.

After most of the club members left, Kageyama politely asked Daichi for the keys to keep on practising and was surprised to find Hinata waiting for him inside the hall.  
"You want to set or not?! You can't set without a spiker~!"  
"You're not a spiker, you're a dumbass."  
Even though he said that, Kageyama appreciated his company and was definitely surprised by Hinata's ability to jump this high, in his eyes the boy was close to flying.  
However, his volleyball abilities were horrible.  
"You suck!" Kageyama spat and Hinata shot a "Shut up!" right back at him. But the training was worth it all and Kageyama felt satisfied as he locked the gym and made his way home.

A good first day.


	2. Chapter 2

Sugawara watched Kageyama toss with amazement because how on earth could he toss this perfect onto a pin needle?! The black haired setter tossed over and over again during Suga's tiny break, Asahi, Tanaka and Tsukishima spiked down ball over ball and it was just perfect how good they were in sync. Suga bent down to pick up his water bottle and took a large sip, eyes closing while the cold liquid rushed down his throat, as he heard the ball slam so hard onto the ground everyone flinched.  
Kageyama, his default Kageyama-glare changing into mild pride, glanced at the spot the ball just slammed against.  
"Where do you keep all that energy dumbass?" he huffed out and went to fetch the ball. Daichi patted Suga's shoulder and nodded over to the club members, silently encouraging him to talk to Kageyama.

No one had been where Kageyama's toss went.

Suga grabbed himself another water bottle, knowing it was a good start for a conversation, and strolled over to the setter who collected ball over ball.  
"Oi Kageyama~ Thirsty?" he chirped and held out the watter bottle with a grin, Kageyama dropped his load into the next basket and took the water with a grateful nod, clipping the bottle open and raising it to his lips.  
"Kageyama... see... I just wanted to know if there is anything wrong. Are you feeling well? I hope Tanaka didn't get on your nerves, he is quite the troublesome character."  
"I'm okay. Uhh... can I ask you something?"  
"Sure!" Suga smiled and gave him a look which could even encourage him to study English vocabulary.  
"Why are you never training with Hinata? Why is that dumbass only pestering me? You can toss to him, too."  
Sugawara's smile faltered ever so slightly and confusion settled in his concerned eyes.  
"Hinata...?"  
Kageyama didn't understand the bewilderment of his fellow setter; he simply nodded over to the bouncy orange head who devoured a pack of juice. Sugawara swallowed and Kageyama noticed this.  
"Kageyama..." Suga's voice had dropped a little, making sure none of the others would stumble over their conversation, "There is no one over there."

Kageyama's face turned blank.  
"Of course there is. I know he's small but don't tell me you oversee him on purpose."  
Sugawara glanced a second time over to the empty benches because he could have missed someone. Nothing and no one.  
"I... I honestly can't see anybody. Kageyama, are you sure you are doing fine...? Perhaps the nurse-"  
"No!" Kageyama spat and gestured wildly over towards Hinata who looked up, surprised to be the focus of a conversation, "Hinata! Hinata Shouyou! Middleblocker, first year! You can't seriously tell me you don't know him! He wears the club uniform, goes to school here, trained the entire week with us and stayed with me for afterpractice, he is-"  
Suga stared at Kageyama with shock written all over his face and suddenly shivered. It was becoming colder in the gym and yet Suga couldn't tear his eyes away from the desperate setter right in front of him, gesturing wildly around and trying to convince him of the existance of a so called Hinata Shouyou. By now everyone was staring at them, utter silence laid like a thick curtain above the gym and the rapidly dropping temperature lowered more and more until Suga saw himself breathing white clouds.

Kageyama's rant slowly died out as he noticed the tiny clouds the silver haired Suga breathed and narrowed his eyebrows, blue eyes darting back and forth between the trembling setter and Hinata.  
Hinata glared at him blank faced and a tiny shiver ran down Kageyama's spine. Since when could that bundle of sunshine be this scary?  
"...I..." Kageyama tried but words died out inside his throat. He understood.  
"Ghost", was all he muttered wide eyed and slowly backed away until he was far enough to dash out of the gym. Nobody followed him but Suga noted with pleasure the temperature going back to normal as soon as Kageyama had left.

Everyone was still trembling from the cold but something else had caught Suga's eye beforehand, Kageyama didn't seem to be affected by the entire situation.  
Asahi finally came out from behind Nishinoya, a sight Tsukishima tried his best to ignore for the sake of temporare peace and sat down, shaking in fear.  
"What was that?" Tsukishima voiced the entire team's thoughts and Daichi sighed softly, lowering himself onto the ground next to Asahi and everyone followed suit.  
"I hoped that was gone by now..." Daichi muttered, followed by tiny protests how he could keep this secret all along.  
"Strange things happened since a few months and I guess I am the only one who noticed since I am the one locking the gym up and unlocking it the next day. Volleyballs would be scattered all over one half of the court. Brooms moved to another part of the closet. Once, even a trikot went missing but that was a story the former captain had told me. But... I am honestly surprised of all people, Kageyama found out what that thing is."  
Tsukishima rolled his eyes, obviously sick of Kageyama's 'I'm so much better in everything' role.  
"Hinata Shouyou. Middle blocker," Sugawara stated with a curious look and giggled quietly.  
"I wonder how he came to Karasuno. Ah, I'm almost a little jealous of Kageyama."  
Tsukishima got up on his feet again and turned to leave the gym, obviously done with the conversation.  
"His Highness is just delusional."  
Yamaguchi waddled after him and started a conversation which beginning was something about homework. Daichi watched them leave with a deep and defeated sigh.

Kageyama had purchased a pack of milk and was now emptying it, lost in thoughts. Hinata Shouyou, a ghost? Why could he see him? The setter started to become annoyed. Now everyone would hold him for insane if he would spare a single word at Hinata again.  
"Oi Kageyama~! Want to practice later?"  
Speak of the devil, there he was. Kageyama just ignored him until Hinata snatched his milk away, made a run foe his life and that was the moment Kageyama snapped.  
"GIVE IT BACK DUMBASS!! HINATA-BOKE I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"


	3. Chapter 3

Kageyama retrieved his milk after he was forced to promise to stop ignoring Hinata. Rolling his eyes annoyed, Kageyama wandered off towards the school gates for his way home, Hinata strolling behind.  
"Why me?!" he finally snapped back at him and Hinata flinched a step away. Much to his surprise, the orange haired middleblocker lowered his head in shame.  
"I-I have no idea. I... I'm just so glad I finally have someone to talk and train with! I've been alone the entire time!"  
Kageyama scrunched up his nose and took another tiny sip. All of a sudden, he realized he actually didn't mind to see Hinata waddling after him on every little step. Perhaps those words went straight through his heart because he knew the feeling of being ignored and outcircled? Probably it wasn't that.

"What are you?" Kageyama proceeded to ask, undeniably curious about him. Hinata made a face.  
"Ghost! Obviously, duh! What are you, an idiot?"  
"You are the idiot dumbass!!" Kageyama snarled and Hinata stuck his tongue out at him before he snorted and couldn't remain serious any longer.  
"O-okay okay I'm sorry~ What do ya wanna know?"  
Kageyama didn't reply to that, only to have Hinata clinging onto his arm with the most annoying whining noise he had ever witnessed coming out of his mouth.  
"Kageyamaaaaa! I said sorryyyy! You can ask~!"  
"Don't touch me boke! Ugh fine!!"  
The setter took a deep breath as if to make himself ready for something horrible.  
"How did it happen? Why Karasuno? Since when?" he carefully asked, trying not to press into a topic Hinata wasn't comfortable with but said one didn't even quirk an eyebrow and happily answered every question.

"I don't remember how. I... I was just suddenly ignored by everyone. After I realized they weren't just mean stupid meanies I kind of took that conclusion. But I can't go through walls! That's weird. Why Karasuno... Ah! I strolled through my town, minding my own business, as I saw a tournament on tv. The Little Giant was there and he spiked like BAM and the ball went SWOOSH and I was just like GWAW-"  
Kageyama watched him gesticulating wildly with such a sparkle inside his eyes... He had never thought so much about a person than Hinata, the energetic little ghost who rambled on and on about the Little Giant since they had met. That he was a ghost and small never seemed to stop him at all from following his dreams of becoming the ace of a volleyball team and Kageyama admired him for this carefree attitude, even though he wouldn't ever tell him that.  
Actually, it flabbergasted him even more how cool Kageyama himself was with that new information about him.  
"-SHABAM and they won and I was like OOOOOH and-"  
"Dumbass I get it!! You started to haunt the Karasuno gym because your idol went there, I get it!"  
Hinata again stuck out his tongue but continued with the last question Kageyama had asked.  
"Hm... Since when... I think since four years I'm like this. You can call me senpai."  
"Hell no!"  
Kageyama smacked his head and came to a halt in front of his porch; realization struck him that Hinata had been following him the entire way home.  
"Why did you follow me?!"  
"Haaa?! You didn't say anything, I thought it was okay!!"  
"Dumbass it isn't!!"  
"You should have said so! Dumbass yourself!!"  
Hinata froze and his lips curled up into a tiny grin.  
"Could it be... that you never had anybody over? Are you scaaared~?"  
Kageyama's breath hitched and his cheeks grew a little warm, Hinata made a smug face at that response.  
"Seriously?! Oh god. You missed out a lot."  
"I-I never confirmed that!! Ugh come in."

Defeated and annoyed to the bone, Kageyama unlocked his door and stepped inside, leaving his shoes at the entrance and Hinata followed suit.  
"I'm home!"  
A woman, Kageyama's mother, shouted a "Welcome back Tobio~!" back out of the kitchen. Without another word Kageyama strolled upstairs and into his room.  
Hinata was surprised how clean it was, just remembering his old room (a bomb couldn't have made it messier) made him embarassed. In fact, there was barely anything which resembled a teenager visible inside this room. Books and magazines about volleyball neatly organized on a shelf, a laptop on a light brown desk and a wardrobe with Kageyama's casual wear. His bed was right next to a window and a volleyball poster on the left side.  
Quite normal.

"Is volleyball all you're interested in?" Hinata asked curiously and Kageyama shrugged in response, "Yeah. I never had any other interests. Problem with that?"  
His voice had dropped to a threatening level at the last sentence and Hinata shivered.  
"O-of course not! I don't have many interests either, despite volleyball I just go swimming from time to time. I'm pretty good~!"  
"You said that about your receives too."  
"S-shut up! I had no tosses for four years!! All I could do was practicing my serve!!"  
"I get it I get it stop screaming Hinata-boke!"  
Soon enough, Kageyama's mother called for dinner and the teen got up from his bed he had been sitting on. In the doorway he paused and glared back over his shoulder at the unusual quiet middleblocker.  
"Do ghosts... eat?"  
"Dunno about others but I sure do~!"  
The soft grumble of Hinata's stomach agreed to this and Kageyama rolled his eyes.  
"Okay okay I'll- I'll try and smuggle something upstairs. Don't touch my stuff!"  
"Hai hai okaa-sama."

Kageyama closed the door behind himself and released a breath he didn't remember holding in. A ghost was inside his house. A hungry ghost named Hinata.  
Since when did ghosts eat? Hinata surely wasn't a normal ghost, ghosts were able to go through walls and stuff. What Kageyama wondered about, too, was the fact Hinata had been the only ghost he had seen his entire life. Why not others? He knew for a fact that those people... whatever they were called, were able to either see ghosts or weren't. There wasn't just one special spirit which was visible, either all or nothing.

For now, Kageyama had different problems. He had to smuggle food upstairs and his hawk of a mother wouldn't appreciate it.


	4. Chapter 4

Kageyama wasn't able to find rest this night. Bewildered he had just accepted Hinata telling him how he, in fact, did sleep from time to time but wasn't exactly in need of it. This time, he had chosen to sleep and was now occupying the left side of Kageyama's bed, snoring quietly. Moonlight fell onto his face, illuminating it for the setter to observe. Even in his sleep that dumbass was noisy.

It couldn't be helped, Kageyama was wide awake and knew for sure he wouldn't be able to sleep soon. As quiet as possible he sat up and maneuvered over to his desk, only to have a quiet voice interrupting him.  
"...where are you going...?"  
Kageyama flinched and tensed up immediately, internally groaning he had woken Hinata up.  
"To my laptop, dumbass. Go back to sleep."  
Shuffling noises behind him indicated that Hinata sat up but Kageyama didn't care, he settled down on his cushioned chair and opened his device.  
"A-ah... okay, yeah, sure... Sorry..." Hinata muttered and watched Kageyama turning the laptop on. For a short moment, light illuminated the room and Kageyama had to squeeze his eyes shut, then relaxed again as the black screen with the Loading... sign appeared.  
"It's just... I used to sleep in near of others in my first months... but every morning when I woke up, they were gone."

Kageyama froze for a moment until he rolled his eyes and shifted on his chair, trying to overplay the tiny smile on his lips which reflected in the laptop screen.  
"I'm not going anywhere dumbass."  
Hinata's lips curled up into a wide and genuine smile as he untangled himself from the bedsheets and shuffled over towards Kageyama, leaning over his shoulder.  
"Watcha doin'?"  
"Stuff."  
"What stuff? Geez Kageyamaaaa! Some in~for~ma~tion!"  
Kageyama rolled his eyes and breathed out a deep sign, mildly annoyed to this point. How couldn't he, Hinata was way too close and even breathed against his ear.  
"Would you back off?!"  
"Nope!" chirped the orange head and Kageyama wanted to bang his head against his keyboard.  
"...I can't sleep and thought I could research about you."  
"Me?!"

Baffled, Hinata stared at the screen in front of him as Kageyama started to browse through the internet.  
"I don't know much about ghosts but I do know that ghosts don't eat, sleep or breathe."  
"Are you sure?! But why am I doing that?!"  
"Do I look like I have any idea?!" Kageyama spat and refocused back onto his search. Silence fell over these two and Hinata admired how fast Kageyama was able to type. His fingers flew over the keys like wind itself but the setter didn't seem able to read just as fast.  
"Since four years?" Kageyama asked and Hinata nodded.  
"Yeah. About four years ago everyone started to ignore me. I'm so glad I have you now Kageyama~!"  
"S-shut up dumbass."  
Kageyama took a deep breath and continued his search. Perhaps he would find out about any incidents which could have made Hinata become like... this, whatever he was now.  
"Do you remember where you lived?"  
"Yep! Behind that mountain is a small town and I lived there! I had a mother and a little sister."  
Kageyama paused for a moment. Did Hinata honestly try to tell him he used to bike over the entire mountain to go to school?  
Shaking his head to get rid of the thought, Kageyama continued and soon found a yearbook of a middle school close by.  
"That's me!!" Hinata exclaimed right into his ear and Kageyama pushed his face away, growling a "Not in my ear Hinata-boke!!" right back at him.

After their bickering had died out and Kageyama shushed down because of his sleeping mother, both took a look at the yearbook again.  
"Are you sure you don't remember anything...? Any event...?"  
Hinata shook his head energetically and slammed his head groaning into a pillow close by.  
"Whyyyy ugh stupid brain! Remember it!"  
Kageyama stared at him without the slightest bit of clue how to help him. In fact, he was drawn between yelling at him to shut up and comfort him. Curiosity still as fired up as before, Kageyama spun back to his laptop and continued the search, now that he knew about Hinata's middle school there was at least something else to work with.

Around 2am Hinata noticed that the black haired setter had fallen asleep on his keyboard. Smiling amused, he grabbed a blanket and draped it gently over Kageyama's shoulders to cover him and watched his sleeping face with admiration. Kageyama had such a nice face if he wasn't glaring all the time and relaxed but Kageyama never was, considering the amount of time Hinata had spent with him, he had never seen his face so content and soft.  
Sighing quietly to himself, Hinata curled up inside Kageyama's bed without the blanket and tried to fall asleep again. Tomorrow was a busy day and he had much more time to play volleyball with his setter.

Kageyama woke up to the smell of pancakes and sunlight shining into his face. With a mournful sound he sat up and immediately wondered why on earth he wasn't in his bed.  
"Hinata..." he mumbled, eyes darting over to the orange head who still occupied his bed and realized Hinata must have covered him with his blanket.  
"I must have fallen asleep... Oi! Stop occupying my bed Hinata-boke!"  
Hinata shot up, whining about how unfair Kageyama was to pull him out of sleep until he realized what this meant.

Morning.

Another day full of volleyball and Kageyama.

Hinata flew out of the bed and towards the bathroom with Kageyama dashing after him.  
"OI YOU GOT A HEAD START BOKE!!"  
"Tobio stop yelling!!" came a female voice from downstairs and Kageyama froze right in front of Hinata who he had passed and caused him to crash right into him.  
"I won!" he hissed at the smaller boy who stuck his tongue out to him and tried to get past him, only to get lifted up by his shirt and dragged back.

"Listen, I'll go first, get downstairs to eat while you go to the bathroom and get ready, then sneak outside and I promise I'll make sure to fetch four pancakes for you," Kageyama suggested with crossed arms. Both stared each other down until Hinata's shoulders slumped in defeat and he backed off from the bathroom door.  
"Fiiiine! But they better be big!"  
"Yeah yeah."


	5. Chapter 5

Daichi stared priceless at the panting Kageyama who had stormed into the gym and now punched the air with a victorious noise.  
"Ha! I won again dumbass!!"  
Daichi honestly didn't want to know and just continued to set up the net with Asahi but Suga inched closer, curiosity flaming up in his big eyes.  
"Haa?! No! It's 6 to 4 for me! No!"  
Watching Kageyama bicker with midair was highly amusing to the entire team, however, this also meant this ghost was present.  
Or Kageyama was just nuts and Daichi overinterpreted things. Nevertheless, Asahi preferred to stay in near of Daichi for the time being.

"Morning Kageyama~" Suga chirped and watched Kageyama settle down immediately, bowing to respect his senior and replying to his greeting. That peace didn't last long; in the next second Kageyama snapped towards his left side and glared into midair.  
"I'm not! You're not even a real senior dumbass!"  
Helplessly standing in the middle of an insane argument, Suga set up a hopeless smile onto his lips and tried to defuse the situation by calming Kageyama down. It worked, however, not without Tsukishima snickering a few meters further.

Daichi and Asahi had set up the net and former clapped his hands to gather his team mates. Everyone gathered around him, including Hinata and Kageyama who threw tiny glares at each other. However, as Daichi spoke, all anger was blown away and Hinata's eyes sparkled with such sudden eagerness Kageyama had to look twice to know for sure.  
"Today it's going to be spikes and receives. One group on each side of the net, Suga and Kageyama will switch setter positions every round. The left side spikes, the right side receives. Once you finished your turn, go to the other side of the net. Got that?"  
"Yes!!"  
Everyone lined up in two groups and Sugawara was the first one to set. Hinata stood with a sad smile aside, knowing he wasn't able to play this round because Suga couldn't see him... a toss was impossible like that.  
But as Kageyama's turn came, Hinata was the first one in line and Kageyama flashed a glance at Tanaka behind him, ready to dash forward.  
"Tanaka-san, please stand out of the first toss," he politely asked and didn't bother to watch as confusion settled in on Tanaka's face. What?  
Hinata dashed forward and Kageyama tossed towards him; not even a second later the ball slammed down on the other side of the net, Daichi unable to receive it.

The team was flabbergasted.

"WTF?!"  
"Who hit that toss?!"  
"Kageyama who did you toss to?!"  
"Wow how fast!!"  
"I didn't even see that ball!!"  
"Man that's a quick spike."  
Hinata had the biggest grin ever on his face and crossed proudly his arms.  
"I'm gonna be the next little giant~!"  
"You forgot no one can see you, dumbass."  
"You can see me Kageyama! That means I have a chance~!"  
"What kinda logic is that?!"  
"My logic!!"  
Suga breathed out a deep desperate sigh as the tantrum started all over again but this time, Daichi was the one to shush Kageyama down. Hinata snickered thoroughly entertained and poked Kageyama's arm.  
"That's another good thing~! Only you get all the blame~"  
With a blank face, Kageyama grabbed Hinata's head and squished it with one hand. Hinata squirmed and whined at him but Kageyama didn't show any mercy.

By now, no one seemed to care anymore.

***

"Oi Kageyama! Do you have a bike?" Hinata asked innocently, hands carefully folded behind his head, holding a comfortable pace with his setter. Addressed one quirked an eyebrow but kept his eyes fixated forward onto the street.  
"Yes. Why?"  
"Can I take it?"  
"No!"  
"Whyyy!" Hinata whined mournfully and clung to Kageyama's arm, determined not to let go unless he decided otherwise.  
"Because I'm not gonna hand my belongings to a chaotic dumbass!"  
"But Kageyamaaaa! I had an idea!"  
Kageyama stopped in his tracks. Since when did Hinata Shouyou have an idea?  
"Like what?"  
"With a bike I can ride to my parents and ask them about me!"  
Again, Kageyama's brain came to a halt. That was actually a pretty good idea. However...  
"Dumbass. What if they can't see you?"  
Hinata's smile dropped.  
"...right... Ah!" he exclaimed, back at grinning like an idiot, "You just gotta come along! Let's hurry!"  
"O-oi boke!!"

Hinata stormed off in an insane speed towards Kageyama's house and the latter raced after him. He had no choice but to comply... somehow, it was difficult to deny Hinata a wish and it ticked him off. Once he puffed his cheeks and pushed his bottom lip up into a pout, Kageyama felt any resistance melting like wax. He wouldn't ever admit it but Hinata gave off an aura which screamed at Kageyama to protect him. Hinata was the only one who could make Kageyama feel this way and even though he knew the orange head since about two weeks, he recognized similarities towards his own person. Hinata's passion for volleyball, competetive personality, hot temper... and at the same time, they couldn't be more different.  
"Just what and who are you..." Kageyama muttered as he fetched his old bike out of the garage his mother usually occupied with her car. It wasn't quite the latest model and yet still perfectly working.  
Without another discussion, Hinata swang himself onto the saddle and grinned at the nervous setter.  
"Hop on, I know the way."  
A valid argument, but Kageyama honestly wasn't prepared for the trip of hell Hinata led him through. No matter how funny Hinata thought of tall Kageyama squishing himself behind Hinata, it was no match against the view of him clinging onto the bike for his dear life once the middle blocker speeded off into the late afternoon.  
"Pfft Kageyama! D-don't cling so tight!"  
"I'm not clinging!! G-go slower boke!!"  
"Whaaat no never! We'll never reach my house if we go slower! Fiiiine, can't be helped. Hold on tight, it's going down~!"

Kageyama nearly screamed as they had reached the top of the moutain and Hinata stopped pedaling, only to fly down on the other side with a speed double the former.  
Dear god, if I make it out alive, Kageyama prayed with closed eyes, squawking as Hinata leaned into the next curve and speeded further, I will give up on storing milk under my bed!  
Definitely wasted, Kageyama slid off of the bike with trembling legs once the personified insanity came to a stop in front of a house.  
He now had to give up on his secret milk stash.


	6. Chapter 6

Kageyama staggered towards the door with Hinata jumping ahead but before he was able to interfere the dumbass had pressed the doorbell.  
"Hinata-boke stop!! Ugh! We didn't plan any word!!"  
"...oh. Right. You're gonna master that Kageyama~!"  
"Hinata do-"  
The door opened to a tired woman behind and Kageyama immediately stood straight with 'I have no idea what I have to do now' written all over his face.  
"Uhm... Can I help you...?"  
Hinata started to flail around next to him and Kageyama had a hard time concentrating onto the obviously confused woman in front of him.  
After a long silence Kageyama did the only thing he could think of, he spontanously bowed down and yelled, "SORRY FOR THE INTRUSION!!"

The woman flinched a step away, on the edge of closing the door in front of Kageyama's nose, and Hinata facepalmed with a large groan.  
"Mom! Mom don't you see me?!" he whined desperately and suddenly lit up again as he had an idea. Beaming, he turned towards the visibly troubled Kageyama.  
"Just repeat after me!"  
"I'm not your puppet!" Kageyama hissed back but soon succumbed to his fate.  
"Good evening, my name is Kageyama Tobio," Hinata said with a deadpan expression and Kageyama parroted him more or less awkward.  
"There is something I need to know. You had a son, right? Hinata Shouyou. What happened to him?"  
Hinata-san visibly tensed up and stared at Kageyama for a long time until she beckoned him to come inside, Hinata following close behind.

"Shouyou..." she muttered and Hinata perked up, teary eyed inching closer to her.  
"Mom I'm here! I'm right next to you!" he pleaded, trying to search her eyecontact which lasted only on Kageyama.  
"...can you see him?" she finally asked with a blank voice and both teens gasped out loud. Kageyama nodded quietly and for a moment, he had eye contact with Hinata. He had never seen the orange head like this, so vulnerable and desperate, at the edge of a meltdown.

Wait.

How did she know Hinata was a ghost?

Hinata-san motioned Kageyama to sit down and left the room, only to return with tea. Shouyou himself settled next to Kageyama, subsconciously leaning a little into his body warmth.  
"So you can see him..." Hinata's mother started again and shook her head with a sigh.  
"He sent you, didn't he?"  
A nod was the answer and encouraged her to go on.  
"I figured... Ah, this was a mistake."  
Shouyou's eyes shot up wide and almost instinctively Kageyama nudged him gently like he always did when Hinata was feeling down. Hinata thought that he didn't mind at all and it had become some kind of ritual in this short time they spent together up until now.  
"A mistake?" Kageyama slowly repeated and Hinata-san nodded.

"Shouyou... Shouyou doesn't remember anything, does he? That's why you came. Yeah..."  
She took a sip of her tea and Hinata was oddly quiet next to his setter.  
"Shouyou was never human, he... He is a demon. I... I met him during a time of despair. Shouyou approaches people who can see him... because only those with a deep and strong wish can. I wasn't able to get pregnant and Shouyou granted me the wish of a child in exchange for giving him a family for as long as I am unable to give birth. To become a real family, he even agreed to give up on his memories."  
Kageyama couldn't quite progress that information, just like Hinata. Slowly, both turned towards each other and had eye contact for a brief moment.  
"My husband and I always loved him so much... He lived with us until I was pregnant with Natsu. Shouyou was so happy to have a little sister... But as soon as she was born, he suddenly vanished and never returned. The deal was over... I just never knew he didn't regain his memories."  
Hinata was in utter shock. He didn't move, didn't even breathe for a few seconds. He just stared at the woman he had made a deal with years ago and shook like a leaf.  
"...I have to make another deal to be visible again?"  
As nobody said a word, he angrily elbowed Kageyama to motion him to ask and wasn't even sorry that he yelped before slowly asking the same question.

Hinata's mother nodded slowly.  
"I think so."  
Hinata pulled gently at Kageyama's sleeve, eyes not daring to meet his.  
"I wanna leave..."  
Kageyama looked down at the oddly silent Hinata but complied and raised himself, excused himself and the two of them left the house. This time, Kageyama rode back and honestly, he thanked every god for this.  
The way back Hinata didn't say a word but Kageyama welcomed the silence. With the moonlight illuminating his way, a gentle breeze guiding him along the road, whispers going back and forth between the trees, Kageyama had a long time to rewind the conversation and digest the latest information.   
He was panting by the time he reached his house but it was worth dodging that ride of hell Hinata would have forced upon him. The sunshine slid off of his bike and waited patiently at the door while Kageyama returned the bike to the garage.  
Gone was the merry smile, the bouncy attitude and the hyperactivety. Kageyama had never seen Hinata so calm and as much as he questioned his sudden attachment, he was worried about him.

Without a word they strolled upstairs, dressed for the night and Hinata crawled into Kageyama's bed. Nevermind it was his own bed, Kageyama hesitated to join him until Hinata rolled over towards him and lifted the blanket with a tiny smile.  
"Hurry up already..."  
Kageyama felt his face grow warm but he slid under the covers, lacking a snarky comment. Even as Hinata, instead of rolling to the window again, leaned into his chest and snuggled up under his chin. Kageyama hesitantly draped an arm over him...  
Hinata's unnatural warmth seeped into his body, crawled into his every last cell and Kageyama became drowsy. Soon enough, his eyelids fluttered shut and Kageyama fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up to the feeling of Hinata sitting on his stomach.  
"Kageyama-kun! Wake up~!"  
"Boke what are you doing?!" he hissed and was even more pissed off that Hinata didn't look like he cared at all.  
"Kageyama!! Make a contract with me!!"  
"Haaaa?!"  
Kageyama pushed Hinata off and sat up while Hinata landed with a thud on the floor.  
"Come on!! You can see me!! You have a wish!! If mom said the truth I can grant it and then I'll become visible and I can become better than the Little Giant and I can meet the volleyball team and we can play together and-"  
Kageyama watched him rant with eyes as large as plates. A contract?! With Hinata?!


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Kageyama had entered the gym this morning with a murderous glare and repeatedly chanted the word "No." as if god himself had dared to annoy the hell out of him, Tanaka and Nishishinoya took out their phones to capture this hilarious behavior.  
Both of them started recording the scene and while nobody had an idea what was going on, Tsukishima snickered at the sidelines with a snarky remark here and there.

It was hilarious.

Kageyama picked up a volleyball.  
"No."  
Kageyama aimed at the opposite side of the net for his serve.  
"No."  
Kageyama threw the ball high into the air.  
"No."  
Kageyama jumped and served it right across the court with a deafening slam.  
"No."

Everyone went to start practising and the setters exchanged every ten minutes. Whenever Kageyama was on a short break it started all over again.  
"No. No. No."  
By now, Yamaguchi was impressed of Kageyama's patience, he'd have guessed for sure anybody else would have snapped by now. Hesitantly, he approached Kageyama, not without a questioning and slightly irritated glare of two eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses following him.  
"Oi Kageyama-"  
"I SAID NO."  
Kageyama jumped as he realized his mistake and spun around, his lip pushed slightly up in the same way he always did when he was embarassed.  
"Y-Yamaguchi."  
After digesting that mini heart attack, Yamaguchi tilted his head with a mild smile. In fact, he had no idea what he was doing here, approaching the feared King all of a sudden, but his instincts screamed at him to go and calm him.  
"W-what is actually going on?"  
Kageyama made a tch-noise and strolled past him back onto the court, only to be cut off by Tsukishima.  
"What's wrong, your Majesty? Stumbled over your ego and fell down on your IQ?"  
"Tsukishima!" Daichi scolded but secretly knew it was over. Kageyama was fuming and so was Tsukishima, both stared each other down in silence until Kageyama suddenly broke the eye contact to stare bewildered at something next to him.

Hinata stood next to Kageyama with his best glare, yelling at Tsukihima how much of an asshole he was and wether he wanted to fight and to come at him-  
Kageyama facepalmed and smacked Hinata's head with the other hand.  
"Kageyama, on a word?" Daichi smiled at him and Kageyama honestly admitted, it was terrifying to say the least. Defeated and making himself as small as possible, he walked after Daichi outside the gym and gritted his teeth, definitely feeling the smug smirk of the blonde drilling into his back.  
"Kageyama, what is wrong? You're out of your mind today and to be honest, it's creeping Asahi out how much you keep arguying with yourself."  
Kageyama tensed and averted his eyes, suddenly that tiny flower over there was pretty interesting.  
"I'm sorry. I will keep it together."  
"Good."  
Daichi patted his shoulder and retreated back into the gym. This time, Kageyama just ignored the noisy middleblocker.

...until Hinata stole his milk again and god, Kageyama was fuming. As soon as he heard someone running and noticed his milk was missing, he let out a noise akin to a pterodactyl screech and chased after him.  
"HINATA-BOKE I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"  
Everyone stared with a priceless expression at him and Dachi groaned. Way to go, Kageyama.

"Why not, Kageyama?!" Hinata whined, rubbing his aching head after they had settled down. Currently, both stood in near of the school garden, cared for by the gardening club and private enough for such conversations.  
"I said no! I'm not going to make a contract with you!"  
"Why?!"  
"Do you even have any idea how to make a contract?!"  
"Isn't that just shaking hands to seal it?"  
"See?! You don't even know how it works!"  
"No problem, we can just ask mom again! I made a deal with her~! But wait, that means you'll make one with me?"  
"God I said NO! And I'm not gonna ride all over the mountain towards your house again!"  
"No problem, just lend me your bike~!"  
"SHE CAN'T SEE YOU DUMBASS!!"  
"Oh. Right. Then just sit behind me again~!"  
"No way in hell!!"  
"How about we just try it?!"  
"What do you not understand about the word 'No'?!"  
This went on and on, back and forth, until both gasped for breath and needed to take a break. Soon after, fairly calmer than before, Hinata decided to drill further... more gentle than before.

"Kageyama-kun... I just want to know why. I mean... It's not like I'd outwit you or anything like that in a deal and it's not like I'd want your soul or steal your eyesight or whatever. I just want to know why."  
Kageyama shifted, visibly uncomfortable under Hinata's unnatural piercing eyes. He knew this kinda glare, Hinata had done it the same day he told Sugawara about him.  
"Please..." he asked again, quiet, hidden demand and determination in his voice. Kageyama felt his last walls of resistance crumbling; making a mournful noise he turned away.  
"I just don't want to, Hinata. What would it even help? If I rely on you I can't achieve my goals on my own and that makes a success unimportant."  
Hinata began to chew on his lip and inched a step closer. He was almost hesitant, trying to approach an animal which could shy away any second, Kageyama was so distant and cold all of a sudden like on the first day.  
"Are you really sure? Hundred percent? Kageyama, I know this sounds selfish and I'm a big meany to say that, but... you're kinda my last chance to become visible now and play volleyball for real. Are you really sure you want to keep your wish?"

Kageyama didn't answer for a moment and unnerved Hinata with every passing second.  
"L-look, I don't even know which wish it is. I want to win the nationals. I want to become the best setter."  
Hinata tilted his head and his smile dropped.  
"But Kageyama, that's... that's not your real wish."  
Kageyama perked up at that and slowly turned around, obvious surprise sprawled out over his face.  
"I-it's not?! How could you even know?!"  
"I don't know! But it's not. I just... just kinda feel it. This is not your biggest wish. S-sure, this is really important to you and I don't doubt they are your most important goals. But... there's something else."

Kageyama felt like smacked into his face with a brick. He didn't even know what he wanted?  
Hinata felt the same. How on earth was he supposed to grant a wish Kageyama didn't even know himself?


	8. Chapter 8

In the afternoon practice, Kageyama was in deep thought. His tosses were accurate but the setter was oddly silent during the time, not even Tsukishima's comments had any effect on him. While they cleaned up at the end of the day, Kageyama felt a sudden slap on his back and flinched away, nearly dropping the mop which was currently in use to clean the court.  
Suga smiled at him from the left and Kageyama tilted his head, unsure what his team mate wanted.  
"Hey. Kageyama, I'll just be blunt. You... you're thinking too much about something. You're bothered. Is it... how was his name again?"  
Suga closed his eyes for a moment to try and remember the name of the ghost Kageyama kept arguying with but didn't get to it. He was always interested in paranormal activities and never had a problem believing him, however, Suga seemed to be the only one who actually didn't doubt Kageyama's sanity. Perhaps even Daichi, too, but with doubts.

"S-Sugawara-san, there is something I need to ask."  
Suga reopened his eyes and was surprised to see Kageyama completely faced towards him, shyness and hesitation obvious in his body language. Kageyama was taller than Suga and could easily loom over him but this time, he made a smaller impression than usual and Suga wasn't able to understand why. Was it so difficult to ask for help? Perhaps it was, at least for the King of the Court, Kageyama Tobio.  
"Sure, go on. I'm always there for advice."  
Kageyama opened his mouth, paused, glanced towards Nishinoya and Asahi who were gathering volleyballs pretty close and Suga understood. With a small wave he beckoned Kageyama to follow him and without Daichi noticing, they snuck out of the gym and behind the building for a tiny chat. Sunset was already halfway through and Kageyama could see shadows spreading all over the place, growing larger with each passing minute. While Hinata always bragged about the sunlight, Kageyama preferred the night.

At night, it was normal for someone to be alone.

"What is it? I'll try my best to help," Suga tried to encourage him and, with a last glance around to ensure their privacy, Kageyama finally lost a bit of his tension.  
"How... how do I find out what I want?"  
"What... what you want? In life?"  
Suga tilted his head, a little surprised at the question. Since when did Kageyama have these deep thoughts? That wasn't like him at all. But it was unfair to judge him ahead, Suga noted. It obviously costed him a lot of his braveness to dare asking someone, regarding his nervous and stiff body; he even realised Kageyama didn't manage to look him in the eyes. The silver haired setter allowed concern to seep into his gentle smile and exhaled a breath he didn't remember holding in.  
Well, as a good senpai he had to try his best to give his kouhai a good advice. Right?

"Hm... Difficult question. Some people never find out what they really want."  
Much to his distress, Suga immediately noticed how horrified Kageyama had perked up at this.  
"A-ah, but I'm sure you will!" he hastily added before his genuine smile returned.  
"Important, Kageyama, is to follow your heart and brain in harmony. If you don't always listen to your brain and instead follow your heart sometimes, you will notice more future doors to open up for you."  
Suga rested a hand on Kageyama's shoulder and said one immediately looked up at him, making eye contact for the first time. He had to resist a chuckle, seeing the ravenette so overwhelmed with the entire situation.  
"Don't think too much about such stuff. It'll only pull you down. You don't need a major goal in life, necessary is the fun and what you do with it. Okay?"  
Kageyama nodded hastily and pressed his lips together, obviously trying to understand his words. Kageyama made such a scary impression, but behind all those deathglares and snarls Kageyama was just an innocent child.  
Kind of cute.

Kageyama felt lighter after his talk with Sugawara, of course his facial expression never twitched but he definitely had a change of emotion. Kageyama didn't want to spend his time worrying about his real wish, important was the present and what he would do now.  
He entered the gym with a confident nod and helped the others to clean the rest up but this time with the lack of stress.

On their way to Kageyama's house, Hinata was oddly silent. It didn't suit the orange head at all and Kageyama caught himself sneaking glances at him, only to turn away again and refocus onto the street. His face was so serious... Did it really trouble him so much? But if he was honest, Kageyama didn't know either what he would have done if he wasn't able to play volleyball like that. It was always a risk, he knew that. Just one accident, an injury, and perhaps he would have to sit the tournament out.  
His former senpai Oikawa Tooru was the best example for that, he had trained to the point where his knee just gave up. Now his knee was permanently damaged. Oikawa was still able to play, however... this certainly could have costed him the ability to run.

Kageyama sighed mildly irritated. It wasn't his fault he didn't know his wish. Even if, he had told Hinata from the beginning he wouldn't make any contract with him.  
Why was Hinata so down? Why wouldn't he bounce around like a ball? Why wouldn't he make stupid jokes?! Why wouldn't he smile?! Smile goddammit!!  
Kageyama started to tremble, clenched and unclenched a fist, trying to stay calm. He always liked the silence, why not now? Why was it so unbearable loud?!  
Say something dumbass!!  
But Hinata didn't hear his inner outburst and just kept on staring onto the sidewalk with his hollow eyes, obviously deep in thought. But his feet were carrying him further towards Kageyama's house, his chest rised and sank, everything about him was alive. Just why?!

Why did Kageyama feel so at fault for this?


	9. Chapter 9

As soon as Kageyama's slender fingers fumbled with the key and swiftly unlocked his house door, as soon as he set the first foot onto the doormat, as soon as he got rid of his jacket... a wave of relief washed over him.  
Home.  
This was home, his last resort, the place where he was always safe. His mother had left today, thursday, and was about to return on saturday... important business stuff, Kageyama honestly never understood to this very day his mother's job. Something about... sales? Numbers and stuff? Yeah, kinda like that. Business trips were common in her chosen career and Kageyama never bothered to mind that, hey, he had the entire house to himself. Not many students his age had the luck to be rid of parents for three days.

Kageyama imagined Nishinoya and Tanaka inside an empty house... and then imagined the fire brigade taking care of said house an hour later. He shruddered... no way in hell would he trust those two with a house. It was flattering to know how much his mother trusted him to not make a mess and Kageyama appreciated it, because who else was there to actually trust him? He was pretty sure some people of his team, like Asahi or Yamaguchi, wouldn't want to bump into him all alone at night. Not even animals liked him, Kageyama noted. No matter cats or dogs, he never was able to pet one. Either they turned tail and took flight or snarled at him.  
Yeah... Lonely. Lonely was a pretty good description. But lonely was good. Lonely meant success based of own talents and own work. It was good.

Hinata had left into the bathroom, probably to take the shower, and it was quiet inside the house. Quiet enough to hear a needle drop? Probably.  
Suddenly the floor was way too long and cold for him; Kageyama grimaced and entered instead the living room. It was... big. So big. So big, empty, so ridiculously large for two people, so... lonely. When was the last time he sat here together with his mother? Kageyama didn't remember. He came home late every day, around 8pm. Homework, the rest of the time he studied while wolfing down something regarded as dinner in his room, and then he went to bed. On weekends, he would practise volleyball outside, go running or just aimlessly strolled around in town. He couldn't help it, he had no other interests than volleyball.  
The soft blue couch at the wall, a television on the opposite side, a few tiny dressers and shelves... a little table in the middle of it all. That made the entire furniture of the living room. Kageyama liked blue, it was his favorite colour. But lately, he noticed how much he became attached to the colour orange. The Karasuno trikot? Yeah. Because it's volleyball.

Kageyama almost didn't want to disturb the quiet area inside the living room. It felt so unnatural to sit here. Sighing, he retreated out of the uncomfortable atmosphere and took the steps upstairs. Slowly, the noise of the shower became louder with every step he took. Just how long was Hinata going to stay inside there?!  
Kageyama leaned against the doorframe, hesitating, his hand hovering above the wooden material. Should he knock? He wanted to talk. Not with anyone, he wanted to talk with Hinata. But why?  
"O-oi dumbass, d-do-... do you wanna order pizza for dinner?!"  
Great Kageyama, applause to your communication skills.  
There was a second of silence with the water rushing into the drain.  
"Yeah, I like pizza! I waaaant... Bolognese pizza!!"  
Kageyama furrowed his eyebrows. What was a bolognese pizza? He would just have to find out. The setter left the bathroom door and went to fetch his phone, then dialed the number of a delivery service.  
"Bolognese pizza...? Some kinda demon food or-"  
"Moshi-moshi."  
Kageyama flinched and snapped out of his thoughts, then proceeded to order two pizzas. As he knew Hinata, that boy didn't have a problem eating an entire pizza alone.

It wasn't long until Hinata stepped out of the bathroom and Kageyama narrowed his eyebrows as he realized, Hinata didn't have spare clothes and his Karasuno uniform and volleyball trikot were the only clothes he had. By now he must have been smelling worse than a dumpster.  
"Aren't you gonna wash your clothes sometime?" Kageyama proceeded to ask, eyes hanging on his own shirt he lent Hinata every single day for the night. Hinata tilted his head at the question, smiled innocently at him, and Kageyama honestly knew there was some sort of trick coming from him.  
"Hm? O-oh, I did! Every night when your mother washed your stuff I smuggled mine inside."  
"You did what?! B-but your clothes are invisible too, right?! Or are they just invisible when you wear them?!"  
Kageyama was flabbergasted. If his mother would have seen the second uniform and different trikot... Oh god, he was done for.  
"Uhh... I don't know! Perhaps we can experiment with Suga-san~!"  
"Haa?! D-don't tell me you are going to undress in front of him and watch his reaction?!"  
"Why not?! We're both guys!"  
"NO WAY IN HELL!!"  
"WHY ARE YOU SO INSISTENT ABOUT THAT?!"  
"I HAVE NO IDEA!"  
"WHY ARE WE YELLING?!"  
"I HAVE NO IDEA EITHER!! BECAUSE YOU'RE A DUMBASS!"  
The doorbell interrupted the yelling match and Kageyama stomped huffing over into the floor to fetch the pizzas. Yeah, why exactly did he mind that? It was Hinata's body and Hinata's mortification, he shouldn't care less about his silly plans. But the imagination how Hinata would expose himself to Sugawara made his blood boil in his veins, even if it was only to his boxers.

Both settled down inside the kitchen and began to munch on their food, occasionally taking glances at each other. What was wrong with him?  
"Hinata..." Kageyama began, nervous, and watched as Hinata's head lifted with cheeks puffed with food.  
"I... How could I... if I would consider it... find out about my wish?"  
Hinata swallowed as fast as he could and ended up in a fit of coughs, hands searching wildly for his glass of milk Kageyama had kindly granted him. He wasn't the type to share his milk but he felt Hinata needed something to cheer up and milk always cheered him up, so case closed.  
"U-urgh. Ahem. I-I think you have to try and think about your current situation. Like, are you jealous of something? Do you sometimes feel like you miss out on something? That's the way it works for most people!"  
Hinata had a bright and sunny smile plastered all over his face, and Kageyama ended up relieved. He honestly didn't mean to make Hinata hopes but it was worth to see him smile again just for a little bit... and after all, he really was curious about that wish.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day Kageyama took Hinata's advice serious and started to observe people around him. On their way to school, he saw people impatiently waiting for a bus at a bus stop. Some looked like ready to pop a vein and rechecked the time every two seconds, others stared blindly onto their phone. A few groups were present as well, at least he assumed that through all the chatter around him.  
So many humans, together.

Kageyama entered the school and found himself surrounded by students. In pairs, in groups, alone, whereever he looked boys and girls his age covered the area and a few teachers arrived in the main entrance, too. So far, nothing unnormal.  
Hinata patted Kageyama's arm as some sort of goodbye and skipped into the direction of the gym.  
"See ya at practice Kageyama~!"  
Oh, he was envious. Hinata spent the entire school day training inside the gym, breathed in the scent of volleyball and rubber, and nothing held him back while Kageyama was chained to a a stupid classroom.

Lessons dragged along like chewing gum and during the breaks, Kageyama stared out of the window towards the gym. Was Hinata training a serve? Spike?  
He needed to avert his eyes before it became too painful. His gaze drifted through the lively classroom filled with chatter and suddenly, he became aware of it.

The large empty circle around his desk.

Kageyama had stared out of the window all day, he had never noticed up until now. Students avoided him. Everyone avoided him.  
Someone met his eyes and immediately looked away again, shruddering. That boy... he was... scared...?  
It was so quiet around his table. The silence was deafening. Where was Hinata? He wanted to talk to him.  
"Oh god what is wrong with me...?" he cursed under his breath and started to tremble. Secret glances drilled from all sides into him, but no one approached him. People surrounded him, stared at him, judged him because he was alone, he was fucking alone the entire time, nobody dared to come close to the King of the Court-  
The walls started to come closer and Kageyama's breath hitched. For a moment, he felt those piercing eyes of his classmates lingering on him once again. He couldn't bear it.

Kageyama stumbled head over heels out of the classroom.

The setter locked himself into one of the toilets and sat down to think. He felt much more comfortable in this tiny cabine than in an open classroom?  
But at least the others were gone.  
Those judging eyes.  
Everything was gone.  
He was alone again.  
But this was a good alone. He wasn't alone inside a crowd, he was alone with himself.  
The bell pushed him out of his thoughts and Kageyama took a deep breath. He didn't want to return. Not at all.

"Kageyama?"  
Hinata. That was Hinata. Wasn't he training? What was he doing here? Kageyama immediately froze and lifted his head, his eyes drilled into the door.  
"Are... are you crying?!"  
"N-no I'm not dumbass! Stop babbling nonsense."  
Kageyama stood up and opened the door with a sigh, coming face to face with the worried and curious orange head.  
"I... I just don't feel too well."  
Hinata stared at him for a few seconds, then started to bounce on his toes.  
"Practice?! I need tosses!! C'mon Kageyama!"  
"Dumbass, I-... Actually, that sounds good."  
Kageyama slowly followed Hinata out of the bathroom and bumped right into his teacher who wasn't too pleased to see him but after a bit of acting Kageyama got sent to the nurse office. Of course, he left towards the gym.

"How did you know it was me?" Kageyama asked as he tossed towards Hinata and watched him spike with a blinding smile on his face. It was a beautiful smile... something Kageyama could stare at for hours and hours without growing tired of it. Hinata threw the next ball towards Kageyama and ran towards the net.  
"I just... knew it!!" he hissed, slamming the ball onto the opposite side of the court.  
"I don't know. It felt like... Like you needed help. Like you asked for me."  
Kageyama blinked twice; he couldn't quite believe that. He asked for him? But he hadn't said a word!

_Where was Hinata? He wanted to talk to him._

Right. He remembered his thoughts inside the classroom. Kageyama had felt so desperate, he realized he had been screaming interally for Hinata to show up and talk to him the entire time.  
His cheeks started to heat up ever so slightly and Kageyama had to avert his face.  
"G-give me another ball dumbass, I'll toss to you."  
Hinata gasped and nodded, stormed over towards the next ball, threw it towards Kageyama and not even a second later he was already at the net, smashing the ball down. Forgotten was the entire conversation and Kageyama had to stifle a smirk. It was so easy to distract Hinata, it was downright hilarious. Oh well... He could get used to this.

Practice rolled around soon enough and the others were surprised to find Kageyama with his packed bag as the first one inside the gym since the third years were closer to it. But no one questioned it, in fact, after the common introduction everyone started training.  
It was happening again.  
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.  
Daichi, Suga, Asahi and Ennoshita.  
Tanaka and Nishinoya.  
Kageyama and-  
Kageyama. Just Kageyama.  
"Kageyama...? Oi Kageyama are you okay?!" Hinata asked out of the blue and the ravenette setter jerked, then spun around towards the middleblocker.  
"I-I just... I..."  
Kageyama bit down onto his lip. He stuttered. Why did he stutter? He never stumbled over his own words.  
"See you later, dumbass," he finally spat and headed out of the gym, very much aware of all those eyes drilling into his back.

Kageyama rounded the gym and crouched down at the back, leaning against the wall. He never noticed up until now what was wrong but now he knew and it drove him near insanity.  
"I-I don't want to be alone... I don't want to be alone... I-I don't want to be alone anymore...! I don't want to be alone!!"  
His breath fastened, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Kageyama was sick of it all. He wanted to be like the others, have friends, chat and goof around. Why the heck was he so awkward?! Kageyama gripped and pulled at his hair in frustration.  
"I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"  
"...that. That's it. That's your wish."  
Kageyama snapped towards his left where Hinata stood, a bright grin on his lips.  
"I'll fulfill it!! Let's make a contract Kageyama!!"  
"I said I don't want to!!" Kageyama hissed, slowly raising himself. Hinata inched a step closer and smiled even wider.  
"Let's do it!! I can help you!! Please Kageyama!!"  
"NO!!"  
"Kageyama!! Just imagine it! We could play together in nationals, you wouldn't ever be alone again, we both would be just like the others!!"  
Kageyama stared at Hinata, into his demanding and exited eyes. This was wrong. No way in hell.


	11. Chapter 11

Kageyama opened his mouth and paused as he heard a voice behind him.  
"Kageyama, are you sure you're okay? You've been acting out of your mind... w-well, more than usual."  
Sugawara's gentle voice calmed him this instant. He didn't know how or why but Suga was able to convince him things were going to be alright. He had such a comforting aura, it reminded him of a kind mother. Kageyama exhaled a breath he didn't remember holding in and lowered his head, unable to look at the concerned setter any longer. People worrying about him was awkward and it made him feel guilty and uneasy.  
"I-I'm fine," he spluttered, then hesitated a second and looked up again with the rest of his bravery collected.  
"It's... It's just difficult right now. But it's gonna be fine."  
"Are you sure?" Suga's voice gave away his utter disbelief about Kageyama's words and the setter had to resist the urge to just run and escape the entire confrontation. Hinata behind him kept glaring with puffed cheeks into his back and Kageyama shouldn't have felt this nervous, as if caught redhanded, unable to move at all- like a deer in headlights.

Finally, the relieving noise of crunching grass was audible behind him and Kageyama shook his head to try and relax just a little. Hinata left.  
"Yeah. Yeah I'm sure."  
Suga still had his doubts but knew it was wrong to push him further. Much to Kageyama's relief, he changed the topic.  
"Ah, by the way, I've come to tell you Takeda-sensei managed to organize a training match against Aoba Johsai. Next wednesday."  
Immediately, Kageyama stiffened again but didn't let it show and just nodded before turning to leave into the direction he thought Hinata had left into.  
Aoba Johsai.  
Oikawa Tooru.  
He was about to see him again. Why right now? He had other problems to worry about. But perhaps, this was his chance. His chance to prove his talent and his change of heart, his middleschool trauma had been horrible enough. Kageyama knew he had to adapt his tosses to his team mates' wishes and not the other way around.  
Yeah. This was a chance.  
"Now it's all or nothing..." he nodded, grinning onto the asphalt in front of him. Oikawa Tooru wouldn't see the sun any longer, with Hinata at his side he was invincible.

Kageyama did a full stop and blinked thrice. What was that just now? Just because Hinata never left him alone? But it was true, Kageyama had to admit, and he continued his walk home. Since Hinata's arrival he had grown so much... kinder? Was that the right word? It was at least easier to open up to somebody and Kageyama didn't have such a large problem with his personal space anymore. In fact, by now he actually started missing Hinata's persistant touchy behavior. Heck, they even slept together in one bed!  
Speaking of the devil, where was Hinata? Kageyama never spotted him on his entire way home and guilt gnawed at his nerves. It was his fault, right? Hinata had left because of him. But he definitely wasn't going to make any contract.  
Kageyama puffed his cheeks and shook hastily his head. No way in hell.

The weekend and next days passed by without any important events, Hinata never stopped bugging Kageyama about his wish and the setter kept up his stubbornness.  
Why should he wish for something he wanted to accomplish on his own?  
But as the Takeda-sensei drove the bus in front of the school to pick up the club, Kageyama was surprised to notice Hinata slipped into the vehicle. He settled down next to the orange head and leaned back against the cushioned seat, trying to find a possible way to start a conversation. Hinata didn't seem too happy these days... Kageyama knew he was the reason for this, rather, his inability to accept help from anybody else.  
Hinata was about to miss their first practice match. Hell knew how much it teared at the middleblocker's heart. At the end, Kageyama chose to stay quiet and watched Hinata silently while said one watched the landscape pass.

The doors opened and Hinata (Kageyama had yet to figure out how he did that) was the first one outside the bus. With wide and sparkling eyes he nearly devoured the view of Aoba Johsai and screeched as he saw the gym. Kageyama snickered quietly, strolling after him, and Tsukishima next to him froze.  
"Did his Majesty just... giggle?"  
The blonde exchanged a glance with the flabbergasted Yamaguchi and sucked in a sharp breath. This was wrong on so many levels. Kageyama Tobio did not giggle.

But the thought quickly disappeared as the club entered the gym and was greeted by the coach and a part of thr Aoba Johsai volleyball club. Oikawa had a smug grin on his face once his brown eyes recognized the genius setter Kageyama and even though he never said any word, every little cell within Kageyama screamed at him to do a 180 degrees turn and vanish.  
"Welcome! Feel free to use the bathrooms before the game, we will begin in about ten minutes," the coach smiled and Kageyama immediately vanished, Hinata skipping after him.  
"First game huh? Ugh I'm feeling all nauseous..." he whined and held his stomach but Kageyama kept quiet. It didn't take a genius to figure out something was off and thus, Hinata soon tapped Kageyama's shoulder.  
"What's wrong?! Where is your motivation?!"  
"Oikawa," Kageyama stated in a matter of fact, eyes drilling into the bathroom mirror. Hinata shut his mouth with an audible click and just stared at him with his best confused expression.  
"Oikawa Tooru... we played together in middle school. He was my senior... and he always hated me. I learned from him how to toss."  
Hinata's eyes started to sparkle the moment those words left his lips and with a deafening squeal he started to jump up and down.  
"REALLY?! T-that means he is a... Grand King!! Aaaaaaaa oh god I can't await it, I'm so exited, I want to-"

The door opened and Kindaichi strolled in, freezing the moment his eyes locked with Kageyama. The setter's grew wide for a second before he averted his gaze.  
"Kindaichi..."  
For the first time since months, he saw his old team mate again. Kindaichi. The one he used to mortify in front of gathered audience at the tiniest mistakes.


	12. Chapter 12

Kindaichi scrunched up his nose and turned to wash his face in the sink. Hinata who of course heard about his time in middle school, processed what was going on and nudged Kageyama.  
"Say sorry! That's the first step to forgiveness!"  
Kageyama stiffened and tried to formulate those words in his brain before blurting them out.  
"Sorry am I- n-no wait, that's wrong- I am-"  
Another voice cut him off, smug and mischievous.  
"Don't bother, Tobio-chan~ King stays King, huh? It's obvious. No one inside your team trusts you, no one. You haven't changed at all, have you?" Oikawa mused, teasingly smiling down at the setter. Kageyama opened his mouth but clapped it shut again as he realized, Oikawa was right.

But he wasn't, was he? Kageyama never commanded anyone anymore. He wasn't the same as before. Right?  
"Kageyama let's make a contract!!"  
Kageyama internally screamed, of all times, why now?!  
"It's the perfect time to prove the Grand King how awesome you are!"  
Kageyama slowly started to turn red with each and every compliment Hinata listed and Oikawa laughed, a horrible fake and ridiculing laugh.  
"Ashamed, huh? Embarassed because I'm right? Hurry, Tobio-chan, I can't await to crush my little kouhai."  
He pointed his finger at him, Kageyama had trouble to not yell back and confirm Oikawa's words.  
"Just you wait!" he finally spat, crossing his arms defensively. This time Oikawa wasn't going to win.  
"I'm not the same as before! I learned my lesson and know I was selfish. But now I'm strong enough to defeat you!" he exclaimed, voice deeper and more dangerous than ever before. Oikawa, however, didn't seem fazed by the threat.  
"And that's your problem. I'm strong. I. It's always just I. But one person isn't a team. You didn't change... and you never will. Selfish, arrogant, brutal and reckless King of the Court."

Kageyama was boiling with rage, adrenaline pumped through his veins. Kindaichi just stepped next to Oikawa, his face uncertain but definitely not disagreeing to his words.

Enough.

ENOUGH.

ENoUgH.

"You think so?! Let's see how right you are with that, Oikawa-san!! I'll prove you right here and right now that I'm not alone anymore!! I have a team and a friend who supports me!!"  
"F-friend?" Oikawa spluttered, hiding his chuckles behind his hand, "Who would want to be your friend? You scare others away just by looking at them."  
Kageyama clenched his fists, trying to stay calm. But this was the end.  
Furious, he whirled around and stuck out his hand towards the orange middle blocker next to him who jumped at the sudden gesture.

"HINATA."

Hinata flinched and stared with big clueless eyes at him while Oikawa snorted and crossed his arms.  
"My my, he is delusional."  
"I'll show you delusional!! I'll show all of you!! I'm not insane!! I never was!! Hinata, grant it! I want you to effing grant it boke!!"

Everything went so fast.

Hinata had snatched for his hand and gave his vow.  
"I vow to never let you feel alone and unneeded again!!"  
"I vow to pay the price!! You can be visible and play volleyball with me!!"  
The moment those words left boths mouths, a feeling of pure thrill and power went through Kageyama, every cell of his body was shaking in adrenaline. Oikawa gasped and his bemused grin shattered into pieces as he backed away; both players from Aoba Johsai stared at the flickering image of a boy with orange wild hair getting clearer and clearer, wearing a Karasuno number 10 trikot and a large smile splitting his face into a half, holding onto Kageyama's hand.  
It wasn't long until Kindaichi let out a scream and fled out of the bathroom while Oikawa remained rooted on the tiles, wide eyed staring at the impossible scene.

A boy.

"Ha! I'm finally visible!! Thanks Kageyama-kun~!!" the mysterious boy chirped and suddenly, those hazel eyes landed on Oikawa and his blood ran cold at the icy gaze laying within those dead yet firy eyes.  
"Watch us win the match, Great King!! Kageyama did change and we'll gladly prove it to you!! Let's go Kageyama~! Wohoo!! I can play volleyball with the others for real~!"  
Hinata tugged Kageyama at his wrist forward past the bewildered and shocked Grand King, out of the bathroom and towards the gym.

Kageyama realized it.  
He had made a contract with Hinata.

"Oi, boke! Nothing will change... right?"  
Hinata stopped and turned to look at him, childish joy all over his face.  
"Huh?! Everything will change~! Thanks to you I can go back to live with my mother again! I can manipulate the school into accepting me, we will play volleyball together~! And I'll make sure Karasuno trusts you. Watch it Kageyama, nothing will stay the same."  
Kageyama swallowed and continued to stumble after him. Heck, that boy was just way too energetic for him.

Inside the gym, Kindaichi made a shrieking noise and hid behind Hanamaki and Matsukawa while Hinata approached the group of Karasuno crows and coach Ukai who were wildly discussing the set up for the first game.  
"Hey~!! Can I be a starter?! I'll play with Kageyama today~!" Hinata interrupted the discussion and all eyes darted over to the pair. Tsukishima raised his eyebrows.  
"What does a grade schooler want here?"  
"Haaa?! I'll give you grade schooler Tsukishima!! I can jump!!"  
And Hinata proceeded to jump, high and bursting with motivation. Kageyama swallowed and cleared his throat quietly.  
"Uhm... That's... that's Hinata. Hinata Shouyou."  
Suga dropped the volleyball he was carrying and along with that his jaw.  
"HINATA?! Y-you are Hinata?! THE Hinata?!"  
Hinata nodded hastily and held proudly his hand out towards him.  
"Yep~! The one and only!! Let me play, please!! I've been waiting four years to play in a real volleyball team!! Kageyama and I got this craaaazy fast attack! We can show you!!"

Tanaka grinned widely and ruffled Hinata's hair.  
"I don't see why not. He's got the motivation, trikot and we all saw that toss Kageyama seemingly set into nowhere being spiked down."  
"Thank you Tanaka-senpai!!"  
Tanaka's breath hitched and his face brightened double as much.  
"Senpai?! Y-yeah that's right!! I'm senpai! Say it again!"  
"Tanaka-senpai!!"  
"Again!"  
"Tanaka-senpai!!"  
Nishinoya bursted out giggling and wrapped an arm around Hinata.  
"Let's try it! I'm convinced!"  
Utterly overwhelmed by more and more cheers, coach Ukai didn't have a choice but to set both Hinata and Kageyama up.

Everyone had been more or less shocked to find out that Hinata was in fact, a real person. But captivated by the energetic sunshine, the team let themselves get infected by his motivation and decided to ask questions later.  
Kageyama noticed with pleasure that Oikawa looked wasted once he had returned and flashed a confident glare at him. The old times were over.  
This was the beginning of a new life.

"Daichi nice serve!!"


	13. Chapter 13

Everyone noticed how much Oikawa was out of it the entire game. His serves hit the net, his tosses were too long or too short, everything about the Grand King was an incoherent mess. Little did the others know it had been Hinata's fault all along.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa exclaimed, ball already on its way towards the ace and Iwaizumi slammed it down; Nishinoya dived after it and pushed it up high towards Kageyama.  
"Hinata!" he ordered, firm and concentrated but not the slightest way how he used to. He had lost his aggressiveness and arrogance within his voice, nevertheless, both Kindaichi and Kunimi flinched at the command. Like a crow itself Hinata flew towards the net, already grinning at the incoming block from the opposite team.  
Iwaizumi, Kindaichi and Matsukawa. An indestructable wall but nothing he wasn't prepared for, Hinata wanted to show off and what was wrong with that? He had waited far too long for this chance.  
In the last second Hinata did a full stop and dashed to the left.

_If you can't get past a block, avoid it dumbass!_

Kageyama's words, fresh and clear in his mind, echoed within his thoughts. Kageyama. His Kageyama. His partner. His setter.  
With closed eyes, Hinata jumped and just before hitting the ball, in this tiny split second, he pried them open again. He saw Oikawa Tooru behind the net, furthest position on the left side, shock written all over his face as the ball whizzed past his head and onto the ground. Oikawa hadn't twitched a muscle, it almost seemed as if his feet were glued onto the ground.

Silence.

Kageyama snickered and made a fist.  
"Yes!"  
Hinata started to jump up and down, giggling like a madman. He was happy and nobody could have blamed him for that because this, this was the fucking fastest quick they all had ever witnessed.  
And Hinata had had his eyes closed!!  
Tanaka and Nishinoya broke the stunned silence with cheers and each ruffled Hinata's head and highfived Kageyama (who had literally no idea what he was supposed to do), oblivious to the latter fact until someone of Seijou found his voice again.  
"H-he... HE HAD HIS EYES CLOSED!!" Hanamaki yelped and everyone froze again, utter surprise developing into shock. Closed?!

Oikawa swallowed and narrowed his eyebrows, stiff muscles slowly easing again. This was unfair. So fucking unfair. They had something supernatural inside their team and it was called Hinata.  
He voiced the tiniest attempt of a laugh and picked up the ball again, tossing it towards Tanaka while his glare pierced through the impossible comby.  
"Ghost, demon, whatever you are, Chibi-chan. You won't get past me."  
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and made himself ready to receive the serve of the baldhead.  
"Was about time you snap out of it, Trashykawa."  
"Iwa-chan so mean!!"  
Oikawa couldn't stifle that tiny smirk even after this jab. Hinata glared back, fire visible inside his lively eyes.  
"We'll beat you!"

Kageyama watched the middleblocker with a fond smile on his lips. He had rarely seen Hinata like this, pumped and motivated to fight for his life.  
For him and at his side, the setter suddenly realized.  
"Whoa Kageyama, are you feeling unwell...? Your face is red..." Asahi voiced right next to him and Kageyama backed a step away.  
"Yes. I mean, no. Y-yes I'm okay."  
"Are you sure...?" the spiker poked again and received another nod. Not quite convinced he kept his eyes lingering on Kageyama for another second but was forced to dismiss it to block Kindaichi with him.  
"Yes!"

At his side.  
Hinata was tied to his side from now on and didn't even look like he minded it, well, it was his purpose in life, right? To bind with people regardless of age, personality or lifestyle in a contract to grant a wish. Kageyama wasn't an exception and he always knew this but whenever Hinata spiked one of his tosses throughout the entire match, he felt a weird sense of accomplishment. The way Hinata would cheer after a hellish quick and still would shout for every single toss Kageyama had to offer, his thirst never satisfied...  
The setter needed to remind himself to also include the other team members.

Pretty fast Seijou found out Hinata sucked at receiving and Oikawa started to aim his serves right at the tiny middleblocker. Again and again, Hinata got hit and somehow Daichi managed to save most of them, but Seijou caught rapidly up to them and won the second set.  
With clenched teeth and full of adrenaline, the opponents stared each other down. The last set. Oikawa served.  
"Make yourself ready dumbass..." Kageyama ushered him from the side, Hinata rolled his eyes and threw him a look that said 'Shut up I got this'. Nishinoya had switched positions with Tsukishima and settled in on the court next to Hinata, grinning from ear to ear.  
"No worries, I've got your back!"

Oikawa tossed the ball high up, eyes fixated onto the round spinning object, ran a few steps, jumped high above the ground and smashed the ball straight across the court- directly towards Hinata.  
 _Too high! Low receive or high receive? Low? High? Low?! High?!_  
In the last second the overwhelmed chibi turned his head and allowed the ball to hit him full force into his cheek, sending him flying backwards. Asahi let out a noise akin to a shriek, Oikawa just stared bewildered at the nerve Hinata seemed to possess to receive a ball intentiously with his freakin' face and Nishinoya chased after the ball, properly guiding it towards Tanaka.  
"Tanaka!"  
"Got it!!"  
Hinata struggled to get back onto his feet and watched as Tanaka scored a point with a block out.

"Oh oh..." Kindaichi muttered wide eyed, staring at the fuming Kageyama who stomped over towards Hinata.  
"HINATA-BOKE!! WHAT WAS THAT?!"  
Daichi narrowed his eyebrows and stepped closer, trying to prevent the upcoming argument in middle of a match.  
"E-ehh?! I-I saved it!! I-"  
"YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN SERIOUS HURT!!"

Silence.

"What?" Hinata asked baffled and Kageyama seemed to realize what he had been yelling at the overenergetic sunshine. Daichi's words died in his throat as he shut his mouth before any words could leave it; surprised he watched the exchange of words.  
"...are you worried about me~?" Hinata teased with a smug face and watched as the setter flustered in front of him with a weird sense of victory dwelling in his bones. It was... cute.  
"S-stop saying bullshit and concentrate, dumbass!!"  
"Yeah yeah~"  
Even from behind the net Kunimi noticed the tips of Kageyama's ears were a brilliant shade of red. Kageyama could think about his team? What was wrong with the King of the Court?


	14. Chapter 14

Karasuno : Aoba Johsai  
25 25

Kageyama was panting, eyes fixated on Oikawa like a predator on prey. Drops of sweat shone on his forehead, his fingers were trembling, his legs were shaking.Two more points and everything was over. Two more points and Oikawa-san would laugh into his face. Two more points...  
...the end to all his dreams.

Kageyama was positively exited; he knew it should have outright blown him away to be cornered like this, especially from his own personal enemy (Tsukishima not counting), he should have driven insane, devoured by panic and anxiety, but something prevented him. He was shaking in adrenaline, not in fear, unlike his time in middle school where he lost the tournament.  
"TOSS TO ME!!" he heard Hinata scream, equally fired up, and realization dawned on him as fingers slid over the incoming ball to guide it towards the orange haired demon. Kageyama watched Hinata soar above the ground, eyes closed, trust so evident on his relaxed face, and crush the ball onto the opposite side on the net. That was Hinata, it had been Hinata all along.  
How couldn't he have noticed?  
But Kageyama was dense, he knew himself, feelings weren't his game.

_As long as you are with me, you'll be invincible._

"Tanaka nice serve!!" Sugawara cheered from the sidelines but couldn't fully concentrate onto the almost bald head. His main focus was Kageyama Tobio, in high spirits-

...and with a fond smile on his lips.

Suga couldn't quite proceed what was happening but deep down, he knew what this first smile of Kageyama's meant. Especially once he followed his eyes towards a certain ghost Kageyama had been talking to day by day.  
A tiny smile came onto his lips and his eyes flickered over to a sweating and concentrated Daichi, a dreamy sigh slipping past his lips.  
"Ah, the young love..." he hummed and crossed his arms, ready to continue cheering for his team. He had been the same, after all.

Oikawa gritted his teeth. Four attackers. One point more and Karasuno won. But he wouldn't let that happen, never. The King of the Court was going to kneel before him, accept his superiority and Oikawa would laugh into his face because one stupid kouhai wasn't going to beat him. Kageyama didn't even manage to trigger that Shrimpy's full potential, how on earth was he going to win there with an entire team he couldn't guide?  
Oikawa took a deep breath and his smug pokerface settled in. Calm down. It was just a question of time. Who would attack?  
"KAGEYAMA!!" Hinata snarled with sparkling eyes and the ravenette setter flinched. What an aura this tiny middle blocker had, it overshadowed the entire team and forced attention onto him. Oikawa had never seen Kageyama flinching, submitting to someone, giving himself to someone like this, and god, it pissed him off.  
How could such a tiny and sucky middle blocker accomplish what Oikawa had never managed? Total submission of this genius setter, something Oikawa craved for since he had met him. No. Not like this.

Oikawa rushed towards Hinata who had jumped and jumped after him with a wide and pissed grin on his lips, crushing into Matsukawa who yelped in return, positive to block him. And Hinata slammed his hand down.  
Without a ball.  
A large slap was audible as the ball first touched Asahi's hand, stopped on Hanamaki's fist, bounced up again and out of the field. Oikawa's grin vanished and switched to horror as realization flashed within his eyes, locking gazes with the landing Hinata whose expression didn't twitch. Emotionless one could say, temper only burning within his eyes.

Oikawa had fallen for the ultimate decoy.

Silence dominated the gym until Karasuno broke into screams of joy. Hinata stared Oikawa down as the setter stumbled to get up again, the loss weighting down his pride.  
"TRASHYKAWA WHAT WAS THAT?!" Iwaizumi scolded, giving Matsukawa a hand to help him up again. Hanamaki made a tch and turned to walk after the ball while Yahaba looked worried at Oikawa, together with Kindaichi.  
"...I'm sorry."  
Oikawa was utterly silent as he glared back at Hinata and finally broke the contact, averted his face and ushered his team to go and line up.

"THANKS FOR THE GAME!!"

Kageyama was relieved. A scowl was on his face but Hinata saw right behind it.  
"WE WON!!" the middleblocker screeched and highfived Tanaka who held out his hands towards Kageyama in return. Kageyama stared confused and Hinata elbowed him laughing.  
"He wants a highfive Bakageyama!!"  
"I-I knew that dumbass!!" came the immediate reply and Kageyama let Tanaka highfive him. Kunimi and Kindaichi froze again, eyes locked onto the scene. Something was so wrong with him.  
"Since when does Kageyama do highfives...?"  
"...no idea."

Karasuno scrambled to gather their things and walked towards the bus but Kageyama saw something from the corner of his eyes, a whirl of white. Turning his head, he came face to face with an all smiley nice Oikawa.  
"Well well Tobio-chan, today your team might have won. But I wasn't in high spirits and you still suck at getting out your team's potential. Let's see if you can win again in the tournament."  
"I-... We will beat you, Oikawa-san," Kageyama replied calm and both looked up as they heard Hinata call for Kageyama.  
"I will crush you next time, Tobio-chan~"  
"It's not I, it's we. A team isn't a single person," Kageyama replied cold and walked off without another word. Oikawa's left eye began to twitch.  
"What a little shit... Using my words against me..."

On the bus everyone crowded on the seats around around Hinata, not the slightest surprised to see Hinata and Kageyama sat together.  
"You're really that Hinata?!"  
"Uhh... Yes I'm Hinata!"  
"How old are you? Aren't you still a middle schooler?"  
"Ehh?!" Hinata gasped, puffing his cheeks, pouting, "I'm longer on Karasuno than Suga-san!"  
Suga blinked at those words, surprised to be the example, and Daichi smiled thoughtfully.  
"True, weird activities have been going on even before we were here."  
Asahi swallowed down that nervous lump inside his throat and eyed the middleblocker up.  
"If I-I think about someone invisible training with us and watching me all day in gym..."  
"Haaa?! That's not scary, that's cool Asahi-san!!" Nishinoya yelled, ruffling Hinata's fluffy hair with a wide grin.

Kageyama seemed a bit uncomfortable to be surrounded by the entire team but wasn't even wondering that Hinata enjoyed it so much. Deep in thought, he stared out of the window but froze as he noticed additional weight on his shoulder. It was Hinata, his head leaned affectionately onto Kageyama. The setter swallowed, his heartbeat started to quicken. The annoying orange head was way too clingy.  
"Kageyamaaaaa... Can I bath first todaaaaay?" Hinata whined at him and several gazes were directed onto him. Kageyama stiffened and his entire face flushed crimson red.  
"Not so loud Hinata-dumbass...! Do you know they can hear you?!" he hissed under his breath and flustered even more as Tanaka wiggled his eyebrows at him and Nishinoya whistled.  
"Ohhh riiight! I kinda forgot!!" Hinata exclaimed equally loud and then grinned again at him.  
"So can I? Can I?! I promise to not steal you the blanket either today!!"  
"HINATA-BOKE SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!"  
"CAN I?!"  
"YES GODDAMMIT YOU CAN!!"  
"YAY!!"

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and plugged his headphones in.  
"The King's boyfriend is way too loud..."  
"I second that but he's kinda cute," Yamaguchi chirped, smiling at the bouncy male next to the scarlet setter. Kageyama hid his face in his hands with a groan. He felt mortified.  
"Oh god..."  
"...Kageyama? Do you think I can buy my own clothes now that I'm visible and don't have to wear your pajamas anymore? I-I like them, it's not that!!! But I just am more used to wearing pants too!!"  
"HINATA...!"  
"O-OH MY GOD WAY TO GO FLIRTYYAMA!!" Tanaka teased, laughing his ass off and Nishinoya followed just along.  
"GO GET IT!!"  
Tsukishima whistled quietly in addition.  
"I do question their bedroom activities if Shrimpy here sleeps without pants."  
"HE WEARS BOXERS OKAY?!"  
"His Majesty is embarassed...!" Tsukishima mouthed fake shocked before turning his music on to block the conversation out.


	15. Chapter 15

Kageyama stood in front of his bathroom, impatiently waiting for Hinata to get his ass out of the door. He had been avoiding his nosy mother as much as possible who had been crying about how proud she was Kageyama had made his first friend and so on... a mortifying hell for the setter.

But he couldn't be mad at Hinata, actually, he felt no one could. Hinata had some kind of magic about him that made anyone in near become his friend, no matter personality or anything else. In fact, he even doubted Tsukishima truly hated him.  
Revieving today's events, Kageyama was positively surprised. His team had included him for the first time entirely into something, all thanks to Hinata, and they had won the match against Seijou, also thanks to Hinata. Whenever he saw the orange head jumping to meet his toss, his stomach did that tiny flip which made his heart skip a beat. No one ever put so much effort into getting a toss than Hinata and somehow Kageyama felt that this had been fate all along.

He couldn't deny he had been a little surprised... His team had taken it much better than he had expected it, after all, Hinata still was some kind of mysterious being he himself didn't even understand.  
"Oi Hinata!" Kageyama called absentmindly, leaning against the door, "How do you even wanna enter Karasuno? Time to send applications is up since long."  
"Oh," came the muffled voice, "I will just manipulate their memories! Easy-peasy!"  
"WHAT?!" Kageyama sputtered, eyes wide in shock, "Y-YOU CAN DO WHAT?!"  
"You didn't know? But that's what makes me able to live among humans! If I suddenly show up out of nowhere I'll be questioned."  
Kageyama opened his mouth to argue back but closed it again as he realized, that dumbass was right. It was frightening to say the least, to know someone who could change and form his memories like chewing gum with a single snap of his fingers.

Kageyama retreated back into his room with a deep sigh and laid down on his bed, starting to toss up a volleyball he always kept close for personal entertainment.  
"Kageyama, bathroom is free!"  
That pulled him back into reality. As he wanted to pass Hinata in the doorway, said one watched him with a strange expression. There was something wrong about Hinata just now but Kageyama didn't bother to waste his time thinking about it, instead he fully engulfed himself into a hot and relaxing shower. He exhaled in relief.  
That was necessary.

***

Kageyama narrowed his eyes in his sleep before he woke up, sweat trickling down his flushed face. Hinata sat next to him, watching him sleep with a weird emotionless expression and honestly, Kageyama forced back a scream. Instead, he whacked his head with his pillow.  
"Hinata-boke are you stupid?! Don't watch me sleep you creep!!"  
Hinata didn't answer first and Kageyama scooted a little away, unsure.  
"Kageyama... I understand now," he suddenly stated and Kageyama froze. What did he understand?  
"You... You also have another case of I don't wanna be alone."

"I... I don't get it," Kageyama honestly replied after a few seconds of silence and Hinata averted his gaze with a gentle blush dusted on his cheeks.  
"Oh my god Kageyama you had a wet dream about me!"  
Kageyama's breath hitched; the setter blushed to his ears and- he desperately tried to remember.  
"I-I... I don't remember."  
"Kageyamaaaa you moaned my name!! In sleep!!"  
Kageyama stared right into those hazel eyes and felt himself unable to move, unable to reply, his mouth opened and closed like a goddamned fish. He had had a wet dream about Hinata which he couldn't remember at all and that dumbass even heard him!  
"I-I'm sorry," was the first thing he blurted out and avoided Hinata's piercing eyes just after that. Hinata finally giggled and crossed his arms.  
"You're an idiot."  
"Don't call me idiot you dumbass!"  
"Don't call me dumbass you idiot!"

Silence.

"Do you like me?" Hinata drilled further with a large shit-eating grin on his lips and honestly, Kageyama wanted to whack him again.  
"...I-I think. No. Wait. Y-yes. No. How does that even feel?!" he helplessly stuttered, driving his hand through his sleep-messy hair. Hinata rolled his eyes and pushed his bottom lip up in a pouting manner.  
"You feel all gwah!! Whenever you see them, your heart goes all doki-doki and you feel so warm and accomplished and at the same time your stomach goes all urghh!"  
Kageyama blinked thrice and then groaned.  
"Great explanation dumbass!"  
"As if you can do that better!"  
"If I'd know how it is I could do that!!"  
"That means I'm still better than you!!"  
"Hinata!!"  
"Kageyama!!"

Both glared each other down before Hinata inched closer with the slightest smirk.  
"Let's kiss!"  
"Wait what?! No way!"  
"Why?! If you like it you'll like me!"  
"What's that for a logic?! Despite that-" Kageyama paused, trying to gather enough courage to spill it, "Y-you're still something... different. I don't know if that's so good."  
"So what?"  
"What what?"  
"Important is the present or not? That happens later and I don't think we should care."  
"So... you like me," Kageyama deduced and Hinata's eyes grew wide before a blush took over his face, pale skin immediately showing his embarassment.  
"I-I do."  
Kageyama couldn't help it, he had been dumb enough to make a contract with a demon and now he was dumb enough to agree to this silly idea.  
"Fine," he breathed out, eyes closing, "Just one kiss. And if I don't like it I'll punch you."  
"W-what's that for an agreement?!"  
"Do you want to or not?!"  
"Ugh j-just shut up!!"

For a few seconds, everything was quiet.

"Are you gonna kiss me now dumbass or not?!  
"Eehh?! You are gonna kiss me!!"  
"No way! You wanted it!"  
"Rock Paper Scissors!!"  
"You can't be serious."  
"Are you scaaaared~?"  
Kageyama turned on the nightdesk lamp and pinched the bridge of his nose in attempt to not start yelling. He was just so done.  
"Let's go!" Hinata exclaimed enthusiastical and held out his hand, "Rock paper scissors!"  
Kageyama rolled his eyes but counted along and held out a rock, certain Hinata was going to take scissors. And by god, he was. Hinata gasped and whined as Kageyama bumped his curled fist against Hinata's fingers and grinned.  
"You gotta kiss me because you wanted it."  
"Best two outta three?"  
"Hinata!!"  
"Okay okay!! I-it's just... I never did that..."  
Kageyama sighed, his expression softening up. He kind of took pity on that annoying orange head.

So while he looked down, Kageyama inched closer, lifted his chin and pressed his lips awkwardly onto Hinata's, earning a muffled squeak. He parted, avoiding his eyes.  
"N-now you got your kiss. Now shut-"  
"Haaa?! That wasn't a real kiss! Come on Kageyama you can do that better!"  
"Ehh?! Hinata-boke I'll hit you!!"  
"Lazyyama!!"  
Kageyama growled and smashed his lips again against Hinata's, this time with a little bit more passion. He knew he had been provocated on purpose as soon as he felt Hinata's soft lips moving against his but hey, he couldn't care less this moment.

Kageyama kissed Hinata.


	16. Chapter 16

Kageyama broke the kiss after a while, his lungs painfully demanding for oxygen. He stared at the flushed face of the demon who grinned from ear to ear and slowly lowered his gaze onto those pink and slightly kiss-swollen lips.  
"I-I think y-you do like me," Hinata panted, hands nervously fumbling on his lap and Kageyama was forced to actually consider this thought because truly, his heart threatened to jump out of his chest and a mushy feeling settled in his lower stomach.  
"I-I guess."  
It was awkward to sit next to Hinata in the middle of the night, illuminated by the dim light of a lamp on his nightdesk, but Kageyama felt like doubling over with joy and it made him bouncy.

"...Actually, you never had a wet dream Kageyama, I lied. I just saw you blushing all over the field today and thought to approach it like that~!"  
Kageyama blinked, stared and redid it. He had done what?!  
"...Hinata-boke I'll kill you...!" he snarled under his breath, lunged for his pillow and began to whack the living hell out of this demon. Hinata squeaked at first, then started to laugh, hands searching for another pillow to spar with Kageyama and even though he wouldn't ever admit it, it was a lot of fun.  
"W-we need to sleep," Kageyama listened to his voice of reason and turned off the lights, making himself comfortable under the cushions. Hinata made a disappointed yet acknowledging sound and curled up next to Kageyama, head fitting just perfect under Kageyama's chin.  
The setter draped a hesitant arm over Hinata's side and relaxed as the orange head didn't seem to mind.

The next day in practice, Kageyama was surprised to see how much everyone crowded around him the entire time but he knew, it was all thanks to Hinata's influence. Nothing and nobody could resist him, it felt like pure magic to see how great he was at making friends.  
Kageyama watched Hinata spike with a wide smile lasting on those lips he had kissed the last evening. He had never seen anyone to be this greedy and ambitious for any tosses of his and yet, here was Hinata.  
Kageyama was happy.

***

Two weeks later, Kageyama felt like an actual part of the group. It made him happy to tag along when Daichi treated them to meatbuns, with joy he and Suga taught Nishinoya how to toss and thanks to Sugawara's tosses Kageyama could practice his spikes, too. Asahi warmed up to him in no time, even Tsukishima who was constant annoyed by him kept most of his speeches to himself. More than anyone else, Tanaka took a liking in him; he was amazed by his default Kageyama-glare once he had realized Kageyama actually wasn't constantly pissed. Much to Suga's and Daichi's entertainment, Tanaka was fire and flame to practice glaring with Kageyama as his 'mentor' and Kageyama had clumsily agreed to it and tried to teach him. A fun thing to watch for the entire group, especially when Tanaka managed to coax Kageyama into a glaring match whenever he noticed other males around his precious Shimizu.  
Kageyama became the head of the 'Protect Shimizu' squad and in fact, everybody but him knew about that.

Kageyama finally felt home, more than in his own house he loved his team though he wouldn't ever tell them. Loneliness was long forgotten and even if his relationship to Hinata hadn't changed at all after this kiss, this was what he always wanted. Hinata didn't return to his own house, he realized it was wrong to suddenly rush into the life of his old family and knew he had found his own new family with Kageyama and his team. Hinata still shared a bed with Kageyama but now had his own little space of Kageyama's wardrobe occupied, tiny and hesitant kisses were shared from time to time and if they would have been honest, both felt like a married couple.

Eyes fluttered open to the early disturbing noise of his alarm and Kageyama searched with a groan for the off button on his clock. Sunlight already pooled in through the tiny slit of his curtains and his bed felt way too cozy to leave, but somehow... something wasn't right. Something was missing.  
There was no orange fluffy blur right under his nose as usual. Kageyama sat up, unfocused eyes slowly clearing up as his mind started to wake up. No Hinata next to him.  
Kageyama rubbed in his eyes with a deep and long yawn, his legs already moving him out of the bed and towards his dresser. The school uniform was put on in no time and the setter strolled to the bathroom- Perhaps Hinata was there.

"Hinata?" Kageyama mumbled through the door and pushed it open, only to reveal nothing. Hinata wasn't there either. A bad feeling started to gnaw at his guts but Kageyama needed to get ready...  
"He must've went ahead..." he muttered and started to brush his teeth, merely trying to convince himself nothing was wrong. But something was definitely wrong.

Hinata had never woken up before he did.

Kageyama opened his housedoor and breathed in the warm autumn air. A sudden and gentle breeze caught the tiny hairs on his nape and Kageyama shuddered, head turning to see where it came from. Nothing was there.  
"...weird..." he muttered and turned to walk off, lost in his thoughts.

Back in the gym for morning practice, Kageyama entered the hall with an awaiting look on his face, rudely disappointed as he couldn't recognize his fellow middle blocker anywhere.  
"Good morning Kageyama!" Suga chirped and handed him grinning a volleyball, eyes darting behind him to try and search for something. His smile dropped a little.  
"Where is Hinata...? Did anything happen? He's never late for practice."  
Daichi perked up and inched closer as well, eyes trying to make out the team's second personified whirlwind.  
"No..." Kageyama shrugged, "I haven't seen him since yesterday."  
Again, a gentle breeze caressed his nape and Kageyama's breath hitched for a moment. Where did this wind come from which seemed to accompany him everywhere today?

Kageyama was inside a closed gym hall.


	17. Chapter 17

Kageyama began with morning practice like every single day, mildly unnerved by the sudden disappearance of Hinata. Kageyama wasn't so good at remembering people but Hinata was someone he could repeat every single fact he had gotten to know about him by heart.  
"Did someone try calling him?" Nishinoya suggested, cat alike diving in for a receive and guided the ball towards a hyper Tanaka who just waited to slam it down onto the other side of the net.  
"Hinata doesn't have a phone," Kageyama replied absentmindly, setting deep in thought towards Asahi. Daichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in attempt to focus and go through various possible explanations.  
"Nobody even knows why he suddenly appeared, I'd say figuring that out might lead us to the solution."  
"Tch. He missed morning practice, that's no reason to freak out," Tsukishima commented at the net, jumping just in time to block Tanaka's next spike. Yamaguchi sighed and picked up the ball to serve, twirling it once in his hands like he had seen Kageyama doing it.  
"Perhaps," he began, throwing the ball up and smacking it across the court, "Hinata went to his own house again. Kageyama-kun, you once mentioned he has family."

Kageyama narrowed his eyebrows, trying to read the attack Sugawara was definitely trying to plot.  
"That's right, yea, he has family..."  
"Why did he even sleep at yours after he became visible? That's kinda suspicious~" Tanaka snickered, wiggling his eyebrows at Kageyama. Said one rolled his eyes and turned away with clenched fists while Tsukishima blocked another attack.  
"Because he didn't want to burst into his family's life. We met before he became visible," he replied with more bite than necessary and Tanaka snorted, "Yeah right." "Just admit you two are dating!" Nishinoya continued with a large grin. Kageyama rolled his eyes annoyed and made himself ready to set, not dignifying that with an answer.  
"Does he still sleep in your bed?"  
"Did you kiiiiss~?"  
"Now now, don't overstate," Sugawara warned with a smile and the two second years silenced.  
Daichi cleared his throat and all attention was back onto him.  
"As I said, it might lead to some answers to figure out why he even appeared."  
"I think short before the match against Aoba Johsai," Tsukishima mused and Yamaguchi behind him snickered, "Y-you called him elementary schooler...!"  
"Yamaguchi, urusai."  
"Gomen Tsukki!"

Sugawara approached Kageyama after their small training match and placed a hand onto his shoulder to force eyecontact with him.  
"Kageyama... You were oddly quiet. Is there anything you would like to share with me?" he asked with a gentle voice. Kageyama stiffened almost immediately- he hadn't awaited Suga to notice but that guy had a horrifying instinct. Completely caught off guard, Kageyama stumbled over his own words until Suga snorted, "Relax Kageyama, I'm not here to squish you out. But... if you're comfortable, you could tell me why Hinata became visible, hm? Don't worry, I'm not going to push."  
Kageyama blinked twice. He felt pushed, thank you very much.  
"Uhm... Suga-senpai... That... that stays between us... right?" Kageyama muttered under his breath and glanced first left and right, then back into Suga's oh so knowing and playful eyes.  
"Of course. I won't tell anyone."  
Kageyama didn't even know why but he felt thoroughly outwitted by his smaller senpai, entirely wrapped around his pinky and danced after his whistle. A few tugs and Kageyama would always jump into Suga's favorite direction. Manipulative little shit, Oikawa-san would have said. Well, Oikawa belonged to that kind, too.

"Hinata is a demon who appears to those with a deep and desperate wish."  
Suga gasped and his eyes started to sparkle.  
"Really?! Wow! Amazing!" Pause.  
"So, what was your wish, Kageyama-kun? Don't worry, I won't tell."  
Kageyama sighed. Sugawara was just too much for him and he honestly just wanted to leave again.  
"I... this is so embarassing..."  
"You can do it Kageyama-kun."  
"...I... I didn't... oh dang it, I just didn't want to be alone anymore. I wanted to know how it is to have friends and be like everyone else, goof around and chat with others."  
Suga tilted his head with an acknowledging nod, silverish hair falling gently into his face. He did suppress that tiny giggle as he caught a glympse of Kageyama's pink cheeks and just grinned at him.  
"So... Hinata became visible because you made a contract, huh? What was the price? Play volleyball with us in the mean time?"  
"H-how did you-"  
"Yeah, I kind of figured it was something like that. See," Suga said and lifted his finger meaningful, "the problem is that you never specified a time how long the deal would hold."  
Kageyama leaned onto his fist and nodded slowly but it was obvious he hadn't understood a single word. Suga sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.  
"Do you still feel alone?"  
"...no. No, I don't."  
"See? That means Hinata fulfilled your wish. He's no longer needed and your wish is gone. So..."  
"...so...?"  
Suga breathed out another sigh and rested his hand on the clueless setter's shoulder.  
"Hinata became invisible again. Even for you."

Kageyama's breath hitched; his eyes shot up wide in realization. Hinata never left.  
Once again, a soft warm breeze blew against his nape and Kageyama shuddered, goosebumps appeared on his skin... it felt good.  
"...Hinata... Hinata is gone?"  
Suga smiled sadly at him and gave a wordless nod.  
"But, Kageyama-kun..." his hand dropped from his shoulder and instead gripped his hand, "If you need any help, I'm here. You're not alone in this, okay? Perhaps we even find a way to get Hinata back."  
Kageyama nodded but did so without even registrating it. Hinata was gone, gone from his view.  
"Suga! We need to go or we'll be late!!" Daichi called from the entrance and both turned towards the captain, Kageyama with his blank pokerface and Suga with an innocent smile.  
"Am coming! Just a second, yes?"

He turned back towards the by now shaking Kageyama and stared deep into those dark blue eyes.  
"Don't worry, Kageyama-kun. If you need us, we'll be there. Okay?"  
"Mhm... T-thank you.  
Kageyama staggered towards his classroom and caught hint of another warm breeze tickling his neck; he turned around but nothing was there. Every window and door was closed. What was up with those weird winds?

It almost felt like someone breathed against his skin.


	18. Chapter 18

Kageyama stared grimly at the gym through his classroom window and finally turned with a scowl away. He couldn't bear to look at the place where he had met Hinata. But as fast his scowl appeared, as quick it vanished again. Tears started to fill Kageyama's eyes, teeth digged into his bottom lip to suppress that irritating emotion and overplay it with pain. Kageyama wasn't going to cry. Not here. Not in front of his entire class.

Despite all his efforts, a single drop still escaped and landed on his worksheet, salty fluid mixing with ink. Kageyama glared at his papers like they had personally offended him.  
"Hinata... Hinata..." he muttered under his breath and clenched his fists. Don't you dare crying Kageyama!  
"Kageyama Tobio! Again you're spacing out!!"  
He flinched but didn't look up, by now he had to suppress his emotions far enough to start trembling on his chair. The teacher took obvious offence by his lack of response and was about to reopen his mouth as a hand went up inside the classroom, the voice startled Kageyama a little.  
"Sensei! D-don't. His... boyfriend disappeared and nobody knows where he is," said a male voice, careful, emphazing the word boyfriend in a questioning way. The setter whirled around, finally loosing control of his emotions. Tears ran down his cheeks.  
"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!"  
Kageyama felt all those eyes drilling into his body, leaving scars all over him. In the same second, he started to realize his outburst and lowered his head with clenched teeth.

"...Kageyama, do you want to go home? I don't think you are properly able to follow my lesson."

A nod was all it took for Kageyama to be released. He gathered his stuff and excused himself for the day but instead of returning home he walked lost around in the school building, deep in thought. From time to time, he would feel this warm breath ghosting over his neck and it made him shudder every single time again.  
By the end of his aimless journey, Kageyama stood in front of the metal gates of the gym.  
It had been the beginning of a new life to him, the first day he had entered and saw Hinata... Kageyama pushed the door gently a bit open and slid inside.

Without even thinking twice, the setter proceeded to set up the net and gathered a bunch of volleyballs. He might as well continue to practice his serve. Kageyama twirled the ball once in his hand and glared at it for a moment to concentrate, then decided it was time and served it.  
But as the ball hit the net, Kageyama became overwhelmed by emotions once more. He sucked in a sharp breath, clenched his fists and screamed. Kageyama screamed as loud and aggressive as possible, then started to run. More and more, faster and faster, he lost count of the rounds he solved inside the court. Sweat coated his body, his lungs pleaded for oxygen, but Kageyama didn't stop, couldn't stop himself anymore.

He continued to run until his legs gave in and he collapsed onto the ground. For a moment, Kageyama stilled. His eyesight was blurry, he had trouble getting air. He took a few seconds, then rolled onto his back and closed his eyes; it didn't last long until tears stained his cheeks. But it felt good, he was exhausted and his daze forced him to relax. Well, at least as much as a Kageyama Tobio allowed himself to relax in public.  
"Hina-Hinata... H-Hinata-boke come back..." he panted and sprawled out on the ground like a starfish. This was good, the ground was cool and soft. Perfect. Kageyama loved the gym.

"Y-you know... dumbass..."  
Kageyama paused, opened his eyes and just as awaited, the gym was empty and quiet aside the noise of his deafening heartbeat echoing in his ears.  
"T-thanks to you... thanks to you I have a team. A-a real team. It's awkward with most of them but some really gave me a chance. I... I have the feeling, this entire time it was me who stood in my own way."  
Kageyama shut his eyes again, a peaceful expression on his face.  
"When I first met you, I couldn't quite believe you. A middleblocker? Someone that tiny dared to call himself middleblocker? And your abilities were horrible. You sucked and honestly, you still do. You're pathetic."  
The setter took a deep breath and felt his muscles go limp on the cool soothing gym floor.  
"But then... you were the only one who suddenly hit my toss... My best, fastest toss... The oddball quick came... We could blow them away, together. It was... difficult. For me, at first. You were suddenly there, everywhere, swarmed around me like some annoying fly. You are so annoying, dumbass."

Kageyama snickered and folded his arms below his head.  
"You took over my house, my bed, my entire life. Do you have any idea how bad I wanted to kill you? Throw you out of the next window? Serve any object directly into your face? But..."  
His smile slowly dropped a little.  
"...I... I just couldn't. When I got to know who you are, what you are... I don't even know what had gotten into me. I... I think I really started to like it. You know, to... to have a friend. To talk to someone... h-have someone around me. I think... I think it's not to just have any friend."  
Kageyama made a tiny pause and kept quiet for a while before deciding to reopen his mouth again.  
"I... I think it's... I think it's you. Because I had you around me. Not just anyone... You."  
A tiny sigh filled the silent air around him and gentle tears streamed down his former dry cheeks once more. It felt releasing to talk to himself like that, to pretend Hinata was there, with him- Kageyama needed to open his eyes and he would see right into those sparkling eyes and sunny smile of his orange haired friend. One of his hands wandered from behind his head towards his chest and gripped the fabric right above his heart.  
"My heart keeps pounding... I feel like about to burst... Hinata... Come back Hinata... I... I-I know it's all wrong, you're some kinda demon or whatever... b-but... I think I like you, dumbass. Like... I like you. I want to kiss you. I want to play volleyball with you. P-please," his voice croaked, a sob made its way past his lips.  
"I-I would rather be alone again and see you than having friends and be without you. Come back to me dumbass... I want to win nationals with you."

"Kageyama?"

This time, the warm wind ghosted over his lips.


	19. Chapter 19

Kageyama opened his eyes as he heard his name and sat up, coming face to face with a worried Asahi.  
"Kageyama?" the frightened male repeated himself slowly, almost as if to ask if any interruption was permitted. His eyes grew wide in horror as he saw Kageyama's tearstained cheeks.  
"O-oh god Kageyama what happened?! A-are you alright?! Are you hurt?! C-can I do anything for you?! Can I help you?!"  
Kageyama blinked twice, unsure how to respond on that. But then, he chose to shake his head and get up instead. It was awkward, Kageyama noted. The gym was empty but them and none of them had a clue what to do or say, despite panicking Asahi was completely helpless in this situation. From outside Kageyama recognized chatter, the voices of Sugawara and Daichi. _Please not now,_ he internally pleaded.

It wasn't very difficult to see Kageyama's stress on his face and Asahi's head jerked back towards the first entrance, then beckoned Kageyama to follow him and jogged out of the gym through the second entrance. Kageyama was relieved to know he didn't have to deal with Sugawara's motherhenning right now and just followed along. Who knows? Perhaps Asahi was a good company, too. The tall ace was more sensitive than the first impression gave away. Perhaps... perhaps he was a good choice to talk to. Kageyama couldn't possibly go ask his mother about this kind of topic.  
A few meters away from the gym Asahi finally stopped and exhaled a troubled sigh. He wasn't the best to cheer people up, mostly it were the others who had to cheer him up. But Asahi didn't want to see Kageyama like this; he didn't look vulnerable at all right now and actually pretty much fine... if it wasn't for those red puffed cheeks. Kageyama's pokerface was amazing- perhaps he could learn a thing or two from him, at least he would be able to hide his fear then and wouldn't have Nishinoya jumping protectively in front of him at every little encounter with other teams.  
"K-Kageyama," the ace said and turned around to face him, hand embarassedly rubbing the back of his neck, "I have no idea what's going on... I-I just know that Hinata didn't come to school today and wasn't at your house either. So... do you want to tell me what's going on? I doubt I can help but... it might make it less sad for you."  
Asahi shot a warm and hesitating smile at him, something which made Nishinoya go into protective mode around his tall spiker. But Kageyama stiffened at this. For a moment, silence laid on the two colleagues until Kageyama scowled and motioned Asahi to sit down on the bench nearby.

Kageyama clenched his school bag on his lap in his hands, trying to find the right words how to start.  
"Azumane-san, you... you know Hinata isn't normal, right?"  
Asahi tilted his head and nodded, a hint of uncomfortableness flashing through his eyes.  
"Yeah. He's a ghost who is longer here than us third years. But... more I don't know."  
Kageyama narrowed his eyes and avoided to look at Asahi. It was quite mortifying to admit his true situation but could he help it? It wasn't going to help him if he just opened up to Sugawara. Hinata taught him to not always expect the worst of people... his team mates had given him a chance and now it was Kageyama's turn to give them a chance.  
"That's not true, Azumane-san. We found out Hinata is a demon-" Kageyama stopped in midsentence as Asahi next to him let out an involuntary gasp of horror and waited a few seconds before he picked up his talk.  
"-...who appears in front of those with an inner desperate wish. That's... that's the reason I could see Hinata. That dumbass kept nagging me daily to make a contract with him and when I bumped into Oikawa-san and Kindaichi in the Aoba Johsai bathrooms... everything kinda snapped and I made a contract."  
Asahi listened quietly by now and for a moment, his eyes grew wide in realization. Right. That was the day Hinata showed up all of a sudden.  
"...m-may I know w-what the contract was? You... y-you had to pay a price, right?"  
Kageyama lowered his head. This was difficult.  
"I..." he muttered, voice quiet, "I didn't want to be alone anymore... I wanted to have friends... Hinata said he was going to grant it in exchange for becoming visible and playing volleyball with us- with me."

Asahi's smile fell. Horrible. Just plain horrible. Why did he never see that? But Kageyama was the King of the Court, the genius, the emperor of Kitagawa Daiichi. He had always thought Kageyama hated other people...  
Asahi never saw how much it seemed to tear him apart to be so awkward and horrible at making friends. Guilt began to gnaw on his bones. Why hadn't he approached Kageyama from the beginning? Asahi blamed himself for being the scaredy cat he was, especially when he had seen Kageyama acting all weird and talking to himself. Hinata must have done it different from the beginning... during the conversations Kageyama had seemingly had with himself he could tell Hinata never left him alone, even if Kageyama sometimes had an expression as if he wanted to murder him.  
Behind the scowl Kageyama was just a scared individual... like Asahi himself. God, why hadn't he made a move on Kageyama? Things might have went different for him.  
Asahi didn't realize Kageyama had stopped talking until they made eye contact. The ace flinched and immediately set up a bitter smile.  
"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry Kageyama. It's my... our fault. We should have approached you, regardless of your conversations with someone we couldn't see up until now. We... we are a team, after all. We should stick together. I'm sorry. I hope you are able to forgive us some time."

Kageyama stared at Asahi as if he had grown a second head. That was the last thing he had expected him to say.  
"U-uhm... Y-you don't have to apologize, A-Azumane-san..." he stammered embarassed and Asahi shook his head, feeling equally awkward now.  
"I-I have to! We never really approached you. I'm sorry."  
Both kept quiet after that and avoided to look at each other. The silence was uncomfortable, tensed, Asahi was on the edge of either leaving or speaking up. He decided for the latter.  
"So... I guess Hinata is gone... because your wish is fulfilled?"  
Kageyama gave a silent nod and shrank a little on his seat.  
"I-I don't feel alone anymore... Hinata made talking a lot easier. He would just talk and do some... I-I dunno, weird something to integrate me and suddenly I was in the middle of a conversation without even noticing it. It wasn't even awkward anymore, it was-... it was nice. I didn't feel alone anymore... and now... now he's gone... Sugawara-san said it's because we never set a specific time when our deal was going to end. So... now that I'm not feeling alone anymore and Hinata played some volleyball, the contract is fulfilled. But... but that's not what I want. I want to play volleyball with him, I want to win against Aoba Johsai in an official tournament, I want to win against Shiratorizawa, I want to win nationals, I-"  
Kageyama cut himself off and shook his head lightly, he hadn't noticed he had started to ramble louder and louder by now. He wasn't in need to speak it out, Kageyama knew Asahi could forecast his next words.  
 _I want to be with Hinata._  
Asahi next to him was mildly surprised by the tiny outburst and smiled pitiful at him for a moment, then suddenly frowned. Cogs began to turn inside his brain.

"...if there are more demons like Hinata... aren't they somewhere catalogued? And... isn't there a ritual for any demon? Maybe... maybe you can summon Hinata if you find those notes about wish-granting demons. I'd say you research the library or internet. If you could summon him... you could make a new contract."  
Kageyama spun bewildered around towards Asahi who flinched in return.


	20. Chapter 20

Kageyama stared at Asahi in a mix of disbelief and awe. That was the riddle's solution, that was a way to find Hinata.  
"THANK YOU!" was the first thing he managed to yell, jumped up and bowed before running off. Asahi stayed behind, startled and dumbstruck. What the heck was that?  
Finally, his lips curled up into a pleased smile; he had been able to help Kageyama- at least he assumed that.  
Kageyama fiddled with his phone on his way home to try and find out anything prior... he couldn't await to get to his laptop, he was on the edge.

Kageyama's mother barely managed to open the door as her son flew past her, up the stairs and into his room. Flabbergasted, she stared after him.  
"Tobio are you okay?! Is your little friend today with you, too?!" she shouted at the staircase. It took a few seconds for Kageyama to answer while he started his laptop and gathered paper and pencil to take possible notes on his research.  
"I'm okay! No he isn't! Maybe tomorrow!"  
At least that was what Kageyama wished for. In his opinion, this was the longest time he had ever waited for his laptop to start. Kageyama sat on needles, he was on the edge, it was similar to the beginning of a volleyball match. Adrenaline flood his veins, his hands trembled but his concentration never left.  
He loved this feeling.

Kageyama's fingers flew over the keys to try and find anything which might lead him to Hinata's kind. Homework and school long forgotten, Kageyama stayed awake almost the entire night.  
Hinata was important.  
Hinata needed to come back.

"Oh my god Kageyama...!"  
Sugawara eyed the young male up with motherly concern evident in his face. Daichi behind the silver haired boy had a stern expression.  
"Kageyama did you stay up the night? How do you expect to pass any test like this?"  
"Daichi..." Suga shot a tiny glare back at him and the captain shut his mouth before he turned back to him and rested his hand on Kageyama's shoulder.  
"Asahi told me everything... Oh Kageyama, if you need help just ask okay? I can help you research, I spend most of my time anyway in the library."  
Kageyama's expression became distant, perhaps almost a little cold. He wasn't mad Asahi told on him, as long as it was only Sugawara and not Tsukishima. Kageyama took a step back to free himself from Suga's grip and bowed respectfully down.  
"I'm sorry. Please stay out of this, Sugawara-san."  
Having said this, Kageyama headed over to the closet and fetched a mop to join Tanaka and clean the gym floor. Sugawara watched him with a first surprised and then bitter smile. Daichi nudged him gently to make him snap out of it.  
"Don't take it too hard, Suga. Kageyama is still unused to such stuff. I think you're cornering him a little too much."  
Suga's eyebrows shot up and he flashed a glance back at him.  
"Do you think so? Hm... No, no it's not that. I think... I think this is something he wants to do alone. Else it has no meaning to him."  
Daichi gave him a gauging look but Suga didn't answer it. Whatever it was, Kageyama didn't want any help. He wanted to do this alone.

Kageyama spent the following days on his intense research. From time to time his mother would find him deep asleep on his keyboard or with a book about supernatural beings on his face. It did concern her to find out how much her son had developed an interest in this kind of matter, however, she wasn't the one to judge her son's interests.  
Strange whispers would start to follow the setter, he heard them everywhere. They took their most appearance just before going to bed or during his research, heck, even at volleyball practice. Kageyama felt like he was slowly loosing his sanity and was glad Asahi or Sugawara sometimes approached him because they noticed something was odd about him recently. He would tell them almost everything, that Hinata was still there, still keeping him company even though he couldn't see him. Those warm breaths ghosted over his body whereever he was, most over neck and lips but in his bed, also over his bare chest.

Kageyama lost his place as the regular setter, nevermind his magnificent skills. His concentration and entire focus was gone but could he be blamed? Kageyama didn't feel the same without Hinata on the court but staying off it wasn't making it better either. Sugawara was happy to have his position back but couldn't help than to feel pity for his underclassman. Kageyama wasn't himself anymore, at all.  
And so they lost the Interhigh against Aoba Johsai.

Kageyama still remembered Oikawa's expression full of smug surprise.  
 _Tobio-chan, you aren't a regular anymore? What a pity. I was so excited to beat you but I guess that means I've already won?_  
Whispers went through the volleyball club, Kindaichi and Kunimi couldn't believe their eyes either. Kageyama Tobio sat on the bench? The entire game?  
But he didn't look healthy either, Kindaichi had mused and Kunimi observed the dark rings under Kageyama's eyes with mild confusion. What else was there than volleyball which could bring Kageyama to neglect his position as a setter so much? His entire body language was different than before; while in other games he would have anxiously sat on needles to await the moment where he would return to the court this time he just sat there, hands gripping his dark hair, gaze locked on the gym floor. He did so much as flinch when Oikawa's serve slammed onto the Karasuno ground but didn't show any else reaction.  
Oikawa was livid. He wasn't even able to enjoy his victory because Tobio 1. didn't even take part in it and 2. didn't show any reaction at all. His team mates were in tears but Kageyama remained emotionless and god, it pissed him off. Iwaizumi sighed and elbowed his friend more or less gentle.  
"Leave it Shittykawa."  
"But what could have made him so upset, Iwa-chan? This isn't normal for that brat."  
"You drilling into any wound wouldn't make it better anyway. Let's go, the others are already coming."  
Protesting profusely, Oikawa let himself get dragged away by Iwaizumi.

Kageyama followed his team mates to the restaurant coach Ukai brought them to but stopped at the entrance. Something on the other side of the road caught his eye and once more, a gentle whisper came to his ear. Kageyama decided to follow his instinct and crossed the road to step into the book store. Whispers faded away but returned once his gaze settled in on the book he had seen in the window. Hesitantly, he asked the seller about it and decided to buy it.  
As soon as he left the store, book hidden in his bag, his entire body felt warm. The setter smiled and returned to his team mates into the restaurant who already noticed his absence but didn't question him about it.

Kageyama knew Hinata was hugging him.


	21. Chapter 21

Kageyama couldn't believe his eyes. Finally he had reached a page which promised an interesting content. The exact description and walkthrough through a ritual supposed to summon a wish-granting demon. It was only a faint threat of luck he could cling onto but damned be he if he wasn't going to grab it.

The setter stared onto the page, unable to move. He had finally found it. After all these weeks, months, finally there was a way to return Hinata. Suddenly, everything was brighter. The sunlight was blinding him, the large and blue sky greeted him, birds chirped everywhere and the cold left a tingling feeling on his red cheeks. Kageyama felt, for the first time since months, happy.  
Kageyama bought everything he needed and vanished into the cellar so his mother wouldn't walk in on him. He had obviously never done such a thing but that much he knew, any form of interruption could become a threat to his own life. At least all those horror movies told him that but honestly, he wasn't in the mood to test that. A last time, he checked the instructions and swallowed down that nervous lump blocking his throat. Kageyama was afraid. What if he was going to mess up? The ritual could only be done once. A single time before everything was over, a single chance and in a blink he was able to mess everything up. Like with volleyball, Kageyama couldn't dive too deep into his own thoughts. He needed to take action on his own, calculate every move and as final, set the ball to the best spiker.

The ritual looked pretty difficult and Kageyama had to redraw the circle various times. It almost scared him how much passion he brought up for this topic, however, the cellar reminded him of his life without Hinata, too. Dark, lonely and cold. The dark grey beton walls were chilly and rough, spiders lurked within shadows and as a little child, he had seen a rat down here. Kageyama rarely ever set a foot into the cellar because he hated this place with all his power.  
But now, this place seemed to be perfect for his task. The cold and moisty atmosphere gave him goosebumps. The setter swallowed down that nervous lump inside his throat and took a deep shaking breath. He didn't know those demonic sounding words within those old pages but he couldn't care less, either. Kageyama had everything he needed, the candles lit and any other source of light blocked from disturbing the eery darkness around him. Words of unknown meaning slipped out of his lips and Kageyama didn't dare taking his eyes for just one second from the book until he was finished.

Candlelight flickered before the room turned pitch black. The setter sucked in a breath of horror and squeezed his eyes shut, following the instructions he had memorized if anything was going to fail.

_If the lights go out, close your eyes and leave the room. You cannot enter this room ever again. Do not open your eyes until the door is closed.  
Do not open your eyes._

Kageyama, book clutched in his arms, felt for the pack of matches on the ground. To him, it hadn't made a difference wether his eyes were open or not. The room was pitch black. If he were to open his eyes, he wouldn't be able to see his hand in front of his eyes.  
Finally, his finger touched a tiny box and Kageyama picked it up, stuffed it into his pocket and tried to calm down. His heart was beating so loud inside his chest he wasn't able to bear it any longer. The cellar was quiet. Too quiet, for his taste.  
Kageyama slowly inched forwards, hands carefully feeling along the rough beton wall for the staircase. His foot touched a small step and Kageyama exhaled a breath of relief he didn't remember holding in. Good so far. Just fifteen steps and he was upstairs.  
A tiny and warm breeze caught the hair on his nape and the setter nearly dropped the book, startled. He was used to this but now, he hadn't awaited it at all. Eyebrows narrowed, Kageyama swore he was going to yell at Hinata for this.

Thirteen steps.

Kageyama counted internally, eyes still stubbornly shut. He wasn't going to look. He wasn't going to look.  
Another warm gust of wind tickled his skin. It was closer, much closer than before. Kageyama was sure his face had lost all its colour by now, goosebumps appeared on his body. He wasn't going to look.

Ten steps.

Kageyama stumbled and collapsed onto the stairs, book slipping out of his grasp and he heard it falling a few steps back down. Internally screaming, Kageyama slowly slid down step by step again and his hands searched for the leather case.  
Found it. Good.  
Kageyama stood back up onto shaking legs and made his way back upstairs, now slower, careful not to slip again.  
"Kageyama...!"  
Muscles freezing abruptly, Kageyama stilled. He didn't dare to move, to breathe, to make any sound. That was a hallucination, it had to be. The lights were out, the ritual had failed.  
"Kageyama~" the voice chirped behind him, further away from the depths of his cellar, familiar and cheerful and so luring. The setter became dizzy; fear overwhelmed him in a way he had never felt it before.  
God, it was Hinata's voice.

A warm breeze hit him once again and Kageyama finally got control back over his body. Like a lightning, Kageyama bolted upstairs, slammed the door shut and pushed the next drawer in front of it. Trembling and with wobbly legs, Kageyama slowly distanced himself from the hallway and instead walked into his room to fall face first onto the bed, book carelessly tossed into his gym bag. Tiny whispers filled his ears and the setter smiled into his pillow.  
"Don't worry dumbass... I knew it wasn't you..." he said, voice muffled by the fabric. He was very content with this, just laying there and allowing the fear to seep out of his bones. It wasn't long until reality hit him and former relaxed muscles tensed again.  
Right. The ritual had failed, Kageyama had failed. Hinata wasn't going to come back to him and Kageyama needed to learn to accept this.

Never again.


	22. Chapter 22

After this painful punch of his own failure, Kageyama began to find back to his old life. He stopped reaction to whispers, these tiny warm breaths and any else attempt Hinata could make to communicate in public while at home, he would talk for hours just to himself inside his room, imagining Hinata next to him with those sparkling eyes, gaze fixated onto Kageyama and entire body langue speaking of interest.  
Sugawara and Asahi stopped asking Kageyama because there was nothing wrong anymore. Deep down, Kageyama felt just as miserable as before but he had realized that it wouldn't change a thing. It wasn't what Hinata would have wanted. It wasn't like Kageyama himself.

Kageyama tried to follow the same patterns Hinata had showed him to engage in conversations and slowly started to grow close on his own to the team. Tsukishima stopped mostly with his snarky remarks in Kageyama's near to which the setter was thankful, Sugawara and he showed Nishinoya how to toss for his libero toss and much to his humor, Kageyama began to teach Asahi how to serve.  
 _If Oikawa-san could see me now,_ Kageyama thought while explaining everything as well as he could. His serve wasn't perfect, not at all as destructive and aggressive as Oikawa's but definitely something he could score points with.  
Life in general became easier for Kageyama, his grades started to recover even if he still had to take tiny private lessons with Tsukishima. But volleyball was never the same for him again.

***

"Oh? What is that?" Suga exclaimed curiously, eyes dropping to that old book which just fell out of Kageyama's bag. The silver haired setter crouched down to pick it up, threw a glance at its content and had Asahi looking over his shoulder in the next second.  
"...Kageyama?"  
Said one waved it off and picked the book out of Suga's hands, slipping it back into the depths of his gym bag without dignifying it with a single glance.  
"Must've forgotten it in there..." he muttered and caught that tiny hint of interest around him. Well, he had to explain himself, had he?  
"There's... some creepy stuff inside. I've tried it and failed. I thought I threw it away but I guess I've just forgotten it was in my bag."  
"The King fails at something else than school and personality?" he heard close by and Kageyama whirled around, feet already marching towards that blonde nuisance.  
"What was that?!"  
Sugawara snickered and went after him to defuse the situation while Asahi sat down and took a sip of his drink. Failed, huh?

If he had been honest, Asahi couldn't imagine Kageyama kneeling in a middle of a cirlce with some creepy symbols and candles around him to chant some demonic stuff- he guessed his imagination just went through with him. There was no way Kageyama would be doing that. On the other hand, Kageyama had the craziest ideas concerning Hinata Shouyou. The ace sighed, lowered the water bottle and with that his eyes back onto Kageyama's back.  
"I doubt he'd mind..." Asahi reassured himself, dug into his bag and pulled out the leather enveloped book. He was careful, very careful. This book looked old and Asahi wasn't going to take it upon himself that he destroyed something like that because of his own stupidity. What he read among those lines gave him chills but it was kind of interesting, so he continued. Nishinoya's talent of popping out out of nowhere and startling him took again its best turn, because suddenly that tiny libero was sitting next to him, head blocking his view onto the book. While the ace swallowed his own silent scream, Nishinoya read a few lines, looked up with interest and curiosity beaming through his eyes, and grinned.  
"What's that Asahi-san? Didn't know of all people, you like this stuff."  
"A-ah nono, that's not my book. It's Kageyama's. Wanna read it together?"  
"Sure!"  
Both burried themselves back into depths of Kageyama's book until Nishinoya let out an appreciating whistle and snickered.  
"Do ya think he tried some of those rituals or whatever this is?"  
Asahi shrugged, expression switching from a concentrated frown to mild concern.  
"He said he tried it and failed. Dunno if he meant such a... thing."  
Asahi had to admit this thought horrified him, he believed in all kinds of supernatural things and by god, he was terrified of them. Just at the tiniest unnatural creak of his floor Asahi would jump and then convince himself that it was normal.

Tanaka strolled over and joined these two after a brief explanation on what they were reading, highly interested in that topic. After making sure that Tsukki was done with his argument and wasn't in need of any more support, Yamaguchi inched closer as well and let himself down next to Asahi, eyes curiously darting into the old pages.  
"What are you guys reading?"  
"Scary stuff but Asahi-san is really brave."  
"Kageyama's book."  
"Oh." Pause. "Can I join?"

The bell rang and Kageyama gathered his things, internally satisfied with today's practice. He had started to adapt to his spikers' abilities and was training how to toss onto a bottle instead of setting in a straight line. It gave his team mates more choices to make in the battle of points, coach Ukai had explained to him. He wasn't quite getting it but as long as it was going to work, Kageyama would be the last one to complain.  
He was caught by surprise as he felt lighter. Screw that, not Kageyama but his bag felt lighter. But the setter couldn't bring himself to care and strolled towards his classroom, awaiting the second bell to announce his first lesson of today. Kageyama was kind of relieved he had slept better these days and was now able to pay attention to lessons. Especially since finals rolled around, Kageyama promised himself to focus both onto volleyball and his school work. He wasn't going to let it end like the last time he had nearly missed the training camp on the weekend because he had failed a few tests and was forced to participate in extra lessons.  
Tsukishima had made one hell of teasing him but lucky enough, Tanaka had a sister and this sister had a driving license.


	23. Chapter 23

Doors slammed open and a large gust of wind bursted into the gym, together with a short yet exited person. The air around the figure cooled down various degrees, giving away a supernatural presence.

Kageyama froze, eyes wide, body refusing to move a single muscle.

"KAGEYAMA!"

Hinata Shouyou flew into his arms, all ready for the tournament and in full Karasuno uniform. Kageyama stared down at the lithe demon, unable to move. His brain tried to progress this view, tried to understand it. That this guy, this bouncy little boy, was his middle blocker.  
Shaking in joy, he slowly wrapped his way too big arms around Hinata and pulled him close into an embrace. He could touch him. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a hallucination. This was Hinata Shouyou, right in front of him, right in his arms.  
How was this possible? His ritual had failed. Everything had failed. Kageyama had given up on Hinata after all these months of agony. Why was he back? Where did he come from? His other team mates were able to see him, obviously. Kageyama needed a moment to digest that, this entire impossible scene before him. But Hinata was here, the one he had been yearning for all those months with growing depression, and they were about to face their first opponents in the Spring High tournament.  
Questions were for later.

Nishinoya and Tanaka recovered first from their shock.  
"Hinata!! You're finally back! Took you long enough, how could you dare to leave your senpais without goodbye?!"  
"So awesome, Shouyou~! Don't worry, I've got your back during the game."  
Sugawara laughed and ran onto the field to ruffle Hinata's fluffy hair, the latter had parted from Kageyama to greet the team. Tsukishima pushed up his glasses, lacking any reaction while his eyes darted towards a happy and evidently relieved Yamaguchi who made sure to catch Hinata in a tight hug himself. Ennoshita grinned at the group but noticed the pityful gaze Daichi gave his team. The wrong moment for such a scene, both knew it and hated it. The captain sighed and raised his voice.  
"As glad as we are about Hinata's return, we can't let out focus vanish! Asahi is still missing today's two games and without our ace, we'll have difficulties. But together, we will defeat our opponents! We'll have to rely on the combi of you two, got it?!"  
Karasuno had turned to face their captain and the team was bowing with determination.  
"Hai captain!!"

Ohgiminami High didn't understand what was going on between their opponents, but how could they? The last thing on anyone's mind could have been the truth. Kageyama's desperate search for a way to find Hinata, his dropping grades, the team's grief, their entire struggle without everyone's little sunshine.  
Coach Ukai ushered the team into the changed line up and grinned to himself. Asahi's loss was a great disadvantage for the Spring High but now that Hinata was back, things were going to be different. Better. Heck, he was determined to see his team winning.  
The front was Hinata, Kageyama and Tsukishima. The back was guarded by Daichi, Tanaka and Nishinoya.  
"Tanaka nice serve!" Suga yelled from the sidelines and the bald head gave him a winning smirk. Ohgiminami High went into a receiving position.  
Game on.

"VICTORY!!" Hinata screeched, bouncing everywhere with such a large smile Kageyama felt blinded by. They had won. Their first match was a victory and god, Karasuno craved this feeling after the last tournament where they had lost against Aoba Johsai.  
Oikawa's expression was burned into Kageyama's mind and he was eager to wipe it off of his face. This tournament, they weren't going to loose. Never again.  
"Hinata-boke calm down already!!" Kageyama finally snarled and caught the demon at his hair to pull him back into a standing position, earning a strangled yelp. Daichi watched them with a smile on his lips.  
"They're at it again, huh? Ah, so lively~" Suga chirped from behind and joined Daichi who hummed in response. It was sad for them Asahi had called in sick for this day and both knew Nishinoya was going to set fire under his ass for missing out their first game, however, they were sure to stop the libero from exhausting Asahi more than usual.  
"We should give our scaredy cat a call," Daichi mused and pulled out his phone with a chuckle, dialing his dear friend's number. The phone was picked up and Daichi turned the speakers on for Suga to listen to the conversation.  
"We've won the first match. It wasn't easy but Hinata came back and thanks to him we managed it pretty well. Get well soon, yes?"  
"Hurry up and get better Asahi, we need our ace!" Suga chimed in and both waited for the tired voice of Asahi to tell them not to worry and that he was going to be fine.

However, all that was audible was a strange whisper until the line was dead.

***

Once alone, Kageyama pulled Hinata once more into a tight embrace.  
"I-I can't b-believe it," he choked out under his desperate attempts to stop the tears threatening to leave his eyes and Hinata wrapped himself around his setter like a blanket, trying to sooth him.  
"I know!! I'm so glad- y-you can see me again, oh my god Kageyama, I- I-I'm so happy!" Hinata replied with his large and beautiful smile on his lips and Kageyama couldn't resist anymore, he cupped Hinata's cheeks and pulled him into a sweet and desperate kiss. He could feel the smaller one giggle into his mouth and Kageyama himself couldn't suppress his smile either anymore.  
"I like you," he breathed against his lips repeatedly, "I like you dumbass, I like you so much-" Hinata swallowed his words again and again, tears of joy streaming down his face. His breath ghosted over Kageyama's greedy lips over and over again and the ravenette setter just knew, Hinata had never left him. Those warm and tingling breaths over his neck and lips, it all had been Hinata's doing to talk to him, kiss him, just be with him the entire time.  
"I l-like you too," Hinata exhaled, lips latching once more onto Kageyama's. He was greedy, he admitted that. He wanted all of Kageyama, everything the tall and scary setter had to offer. From tosses to kisses and love... god, he craved for him.

Kageyama had to restrain himself to not go overboard when their second match was about to begin soon. With dazed eyes, he glared deep into Hinata's and knew, both were blushing like idiots.  
"H-how," he finally managed to say, "h-how did you come back? How?"  
Hinata's smile turned less loving, actually a little bitter.


	24. Chapter 24

Awaiting, Kageyama stared deep into Hinata's eyes. The smaller boy was visibly uncomfortable but much to Kageyama's dismay, Daichi's call saved him from further interrogation.  
"Gather around! The next match will start soon!"  
Kageyama shot Hinata a glare that promised further questions afterwards and moved towards their captain. Hinata was happy. His team mates would shoot him occasional glances mixed with smiles that spoke of joy and relief. He was part of this team and Hinata loved them all. Even salty Tsukishima who seemed to hate his mere existance was a good person to him.

Everyone settled in on the discussed line up, the same one like in the match before. Both Kageyama and Hinata could barely calm down, they were overflowing with exitement. If he could, Kageyama would have yelled at Daichi to serve already but his experience with that horrifying captain shut his mouth fast enough.  
"Come on dumbass we can do it!" he snarled, eyes already darting over each and every opponent to try and guess their abilities. Hinata next to him gave an enthusiastic nod and snickered.  
"Let's give out best, Kageyama!"  
The whistle which told Daichi to serve went directly through their bodies, switching on boths concentration. Kageyama observed the ball as it came closer to the ground of the enemy team, Kakugawa High, and one of their team mates saved it in the last second. For a moment, Kageyama and Hinata had brief eyecontact. The right moment for their new quick attack?

"Tanaka!"  
"Got it! Kageyama!" came the immediate answer and the setter sprinted a few steps backwards, then guided the ball towards Hinata. Like lightning itself, Hinata sprinted to the left and slammed the ball down on the opposite side of the net.  
Silence.  
"WHOA!!" Hinata screamed and started bouncing everywhere while the players of Kakugawa scrambled to fetch the ball. Kageyama snickered and highfived him, surprised by his own emotions. Kageyama was happy. Finally, everything was how it had to be.

***

Full of their own victory, Karasuno strolled back into their bus and Kageyama let himself fall into a seat next to Hinata. He had missed him so much.  
"Kageyama?" the orange haired middleblocker interrupted his thoughts, voice a little lowered so none of the others could hear him, "I... I was really happy. You know... you couldn't see me at all and still you kept talking to me, told me things, how you feel and what you ate today and how practice is going..."  
The boy sucked in a breath and smiled with a fond expression up at him.  
"You're the first one who ever did that. Thanks, Kageyama."  
Said one stared down at Hinata with an indescribable look on his face. He had no idea how react and felt flustered as hell.  
"W-well," he finally spat, turning with an embarassed look away again, "I'm not that cruel to ignore you, dumbass."  
"But how did you always know I was there?" Hinata pried further. Blue eyes darted back towards him and Kageyama blinked twice, not sure how to understand this question.  
"Uhm... I felt it. Your breath. You kissed me lots and clung onto me most of the time. And... I started hearing your voice. I couldn't understand it and honestly still don't get it but I started hearing whispers. Strange stuff. That's why I kinda knew you never left and why I didn't go after your voice in the cellar."  
Hinata stared at him, eyes wide in surprise. He knew Kageyama had somehow noticed him every single time he was too close but honestly, he had just expected Kageyama to be sensitive considering such things. Relief sprawled over his face and Hinata sighed.  
"You scared me, Bakageyama. First you do such dangerous ritual stuff and then you set a demon free who imitated me to kill you. Don't you dare ever going into your cellar again, got it?!"  
Kageyama puffed his cheeks and whacked his head, earning a strangled whine.  
"Dumbass!!"  
But then, his expression fell like a curtain and was replaced by his usual default Kageyama-glare.  
"You still didn't tell me. Spit it out, dumbass. How did you come back? I failed."  
"Well... P-promise me you won't hurt me, first! I'm not at fault!"  
"Hinata-boke!!"  
"Ugh fine!"

Moments of explaining later, Kageyama was as pale as his white Karasuno shirt. He stared at his middle blocker, unable to find the right words.  
"D-don't tell me...?!"  
"Yeah. I had to obey. It's a little different if someone summons me... I don't fulfill the person's secret and deepest wish but a wish they speak out towards me. Heck, I even warned about the price, the consequences- but it was no use. Stubborn idiot."

_"O-oh god I managed it I managed it! Hinata! Hinata is that really you?!" The middle blocker in the summoning circle stared at him with eyes as wide as plates before he broke into a fit of laughter and started to jump up and down. "Wow!! I never imagined you would do such things! W-well, tell me! What is your wish?!"  
Immediately the atmosphere shifted into a bit of uncomfortableness as the smile vanished from his summoner's face.  
"I want you to be free. Not forced to make contracts anymore, not forced to be invisible ever again. Come back, play volleyball with us, make Kageyama happy. Be free, Hinata."  
Hinata's smile also vanished and was replaced by a worried frown.  
"B-but the price...! Y-you don't understand! If I give up my job, somebody has to take that place. I-in that case... You."  
A determined nod was all he received.  
"I-I know. I figured. And... i-it scares me. But I never had any plans whatsoever, I was always afraid and scared of everything. I'm happy if I can help like this. If I can... b-be of use, for once. Fulfill it, Hinata. I made up my mind."  
Hinata opened his mouth to argue again but knew he wasn't going to change his mind. With a sigh of desperation, Hinata closed his eyes and his summoner's vision turned white._

Kageyama's body started to tremble and the setter shrank on his seat. Why did that happen? His eyes shot up wide in realization; Kageyama pulled his bag onto his lap and started rummaging through it, trying to find his book, only to find out it was gone, god knew how long already.  
For a moment, Kageyama observed his team with regretful eyes. Nishinoya was chatting away with Tanaka, Suga and Daichi kept discussing new formations and coach Ukai was asleep. Tsukishima had his headphones on, sharing with Yamaguchi which looked fucking cute, mind you. How was he going to tell them?  
Tell them that Asahi wasn't going to return?

"Kageyama... It's not your fault," Hinata warned next to him under his breath and Kageyama clenched a fist, snapping back more aggressive than necessary, "Of course it is!! I should have prevented it!! It's my damned fault!" Hinata quietened down, fully aware of Kageyama's feelings and situation.  
"I-I should have paid attention on that stupid book...! Why didn't he say anything?! Why?!" Kageyama choked out, still keeping fairly quiet for his panic. God, he was a horrible person. Asahi wasn't going to come back. Nobody could see him anymore, there wasn't a single person on his team who had a wish.  
It was all his fault.


	25. Chapter 25

Kageyama slowly stepped out of the bus, eyes adjusting to the setting sun. It was warm and Kageyama didn't like the heat, he had yet to shower from the two exhausting matches and smelled like sweat. Hinata didn't seem to mind, he kept himself always just one step away from his tall setter and would occasionally bump into him as if to say 'I'm here for you'. It didn't help at all, it was Kageyama's task to tell his group and he knew he had to do that soon.  
How was Sugawara going to ract? Daichi? Both were Asahi's closest friends. Nishinoya? The one who always admired him and followed him around like a little puppy. Kageyama felt like about to jump into an ocean of deadly spikes. Guilt, frustration and horror gnawed at his guts; the setter felt nauseous.  
But he had to tell them. Maybe not together. Maybe one by one. This... this was a good idea. Right. And with who was he going to start?

His choice fell at the end onto Daichi, the captain and most responsible person inside the team. Hesitantly, he approached him, Hinata in tow.  
"Sawamura-san?"  
Daichi turned around, an acknowledging smile on his lips. As he saw Kageyama's expression, his expression changed into mild concern and he beckoned them to follow him into a quiter part of the school, away from the busily shuffling members of the Karasuno volleyball club.  
"Do you need help, Kageyama?"  
"I-I..."  
Kageyama opened and closed his mouth like a fish, words stuck within his throat. Hinata flashed a glance at the desperate male and sighed, head lowered.  
"Asahi... Well... Asahi took my place. That's why I'm here. That's why he called in sick. He summoned me and I granted his wish."  
Daichi stared down at Hinata, then snickered and ruffled his head.  
"Yeah, sure. Nice try. Asahi is at home, sick."  
Kageyama swallowed and both kept quiet, so unnatural for them that Daichi had to reevaluate his words.  
"...he's not sick. He did that ritual," Daichi mouthed shocked, fright visible all over his face. Kageyama had never hated any silence so much than the silence Daichi spreaded over them.

"...i-it's not your fault. Not your fault. It's-..." Daichi cut himself off, hands raking through his hair in attempt to prevent the upcoming panic in his bones, "A-Asahi... A-asahi isn't going to come back. Oh god. I-I... I need a moment to digest that. D-don't worry, Kageyama, Hinata, it's... not your fault."  
Daichi turned around and left. Not to the gym, not back to the bus to his team mates, Daichi left the school ground. Kageyama stared after him, not even the slightest convinced by his words. Clearly, it had been his fault. Not Hinata's, not Asahi's, it was his fault all alone.  
Both didn't speak a word with each other as they returned to the bus, their team mates finished by now with unpacking. Suga narrowed his eyebrows, checklist in hand, eyes searching for his captain. His gaze became stuck on the duo.  
"Where's Daichi?"  
Kageyama flinched and immediately stood straight. The setter knew he was unable to outlive the wrath of Sugawara Koushi if he would get to know about the current events.  
"...I-I think he went home," Kageyama finally stammered and received a gauging look from their silver haired companion.  
"At least he left the school ground!" Hinata helpfully pointed out next to him and Kageyama rolled his eyes; _go state the obvious, dumbass._

Suga could feel it in his bones something was going on but also knew it was the wrong time to squish his kouhais out for any information; he flashed a glance around to confirm his suspicion and sighed in return. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had been the first ones to leave; Tsukishima was always the first one gone after training. Nishinoya was busy joking around with Tanaka and Narita, Ennoshita and Kinoshita were just walking around the corner of the school gates to leave.  
"Fine then, I'll catch him later," Suga finally said with a knowing smile and both boys desperately tried to swallow that nervous lump blocking their throats. Suga was no one to underestimate.

Finally, the duo was released and both strolled slowly home, an uncomfortable and quiet tension lasting between them.

***

Just like every day, Asahi stood up, brushed his teeth, took a short shower, dressed himself and had breakfast. He was always the first one up because his mother worked night shifts and slept through most of the day.  
But something... something was different, Asahi felt it in his bones. Memories hit him once he recognized Kageyama's book close to his bed and immediately, the ace paled.  
"I... Oh god... I'm demon? Am I a demon now? Can I fly?"  
Asahi proceeded to jump twice on the spot and his shoulders slumped down in disappointment as it turned out to be impossible. He scrunched his nose up, a little annoyed of himself.  
"I should have asked Hinata about the stuff I can do..."

With a deep and longdrawn sigh, Asahi took his school bag and exited his house. Suga and Daichi usually waited just around the corner at the crossover, however, once he arrived he saw Daichi walking straight past it while Suga came to a halt.  
"Daichi?" the setter called out, voice hinting surprise. Daichi came to a stop as well and sighed, head lowering.  
"Suga... Remember what I told you?"  
Sugawara froze for a second, gave a small nod, and continued his way to catch up with the broader male. Asahi waddled behind feeling pretty much ignored.  
"I guess I'll have to get used to this..." he muttered.  
"Negativity begone!" Suga suddenly exclaimed and jabbed Daichi into his ribs, causing him to stumble over with a pained gasp.  
"Suga!!" he yelled, whirling around to him but before any more words could leave his mouth, the setter raised his voice again.  
"Look, we both think Asahi is an idiot for throwing away his life like that but it's not your fault okay?! We couldn't have seen through that, we couldn't have prevented that, we could have done absolutely nothing to change his mind. Got that?!"

Daichi stared at him like a deer in headlights and Asahi's mouth popped open. Well, both knew Suga was an essential part of their life and they weren't going to make it without him. Asahi's smile faltered as he realized he couldn't be with his friends forever and it became bitter as he also realized that this time, Suga wasn't going to cheer him up.


	26. Chapter 26

Daichi had a bad feeling once he entered the gym. He was captain of the Karasuno volleyball team and it was his responsibility to inform his team. However, as Daichi saw his team mates gathered around a visibly uncomfortable Kageyama, shock and horror evident in their faces, his thoughts and panic came screeching to a halt. Daichi froze on the spot, teeth sinking into his bottom lip to stop his question from coming out. He had to make sure it this was really about Asahi. But the way Kageyama stood there, shaking, guilty, almost as if in some kind of interrogation, realization dawned upon Daichi.

Oh god did he-?

"ASAHI?!" Tanaka screamed all of a sudden and everyone around him flinched. Nishinoya just stared at Kageyama, wide eyed, for the first time in his entire life at loss of words.  
Yamaguchi finally snapped out of it and buried his face into his shaking hands, quiet sobs audible. Tsukishima made his typical Tch and turned away from the stiff Kageyama, hand gently patting Yamaguchi's hib to beckon him to follow him to the bench. The latter complied and sat down on the bench, hugging his knees and burying his face into them.  
Daichi sighed and closed his eyes for a second, then decided to reveal his presence.  
"Good morning," he greeted, joining the circle around Kageyama. Hinata was holding onto Kageyama's hand, trying to calm his obvious boyfriend down while the latter only shot a brief glance out of the corner of his eyes towards Daichi and Suga.  
"I... I know those are horrible news but... Nobody is at fault for this. We couldn't have prevented it."

This was the moment Nishinoya snapped out of his daze, glazed eyes suddenly became clear and tears started to run down his cheeks.  
"IT WAS MY FAULT!" he yelled, hands clenching into fists. Suga took a step forward, attempting to calm him down, but Nishinoya dodged his hand and jumped a step backwards.  
"Nishinoya-"  
"NO! IT'S MY FAULT!! K-Kageyama, I- oh fuck!"  
Nishinoya gripped his hair, sucked in a shaking breath to try and find the courage to spit out the right words.  
"I-I saw him. I-I saw how Asahi-san stole your book, Kageyama. I saw it. I fucking saw it. I-I even approached him because of that b-but he ensured me it was fine and he had asked you!"  
His voice was higher than usual, by now coming out as a desperate whine, slurred thanks to his sobs cutting him off again and again.

Kageyama didn't know what to answer, he just stared at the stammering libero who desperately blurted out apology after apology.  
"You... saw... how Asahi stole something?" Ennoshita repeated slowly; he wasn't quite able to believe that shy and scared Asahi was able to steal anything. But proof was there.  
Asahi was gone and neither Hinata nor Kageyama would ever lie about such a topic. Sugawara finally managed to catch the slippery libero and pulled him into a tight hug.

Kageyama could do nothing than watch as Nishinoya cried himself out in Sugawara's arms, watch how Tsukishima tried despite his social difficulties to comfort the sobbing Yamaguchi, watch how Daichi and Ennoshita just stared pale and silent onto the floor and watch how Tanaka stomped out of the gym to get rid of his boiling anger.  
Even Hinata was quiet, he kept holding onto Kageyama's hand and the setter was actually glad about that. He needed that comfort. Kageyama turned away from this depressing scene and lowered his gaze instead onto his boyfriend.  
"...oi dumbass... let's... let's go and buy some milk from the vending machine."  
Hinata gave a small nod and slowly shambled after Kageyama, usual motivation blown away.

It was at the gym entrance that both froze on the spot as a scream erupted behind them. Nishinoya. Those two whirled around and saw the libero, just in time to jump aside before he jumped at them or rather, behind them.  
"ASAHI-SAN!!" came the second scream.  
Silence came over the gym despite Nishinoya's joyful sobs and laughter.  
Sugawara grew big eyes, Kageyama and Hinata exchanged a shocked glance.  
"Nishinoya..." Suga began carefully from behind but his voice gave away the internal grin.

"There is no one."

Nishinoya froze, lifted his head and stared first into emptiness, back at Suga, then towards Hinata and finally again forward.  
"Oh stop that i-it's not funny anymore!! That's Asahi-san!"  
Kageyama sucked in a breath and Hinata began to smile, wide and happy.  
"Nishinoya...!"  
Hinata knew what was going on, realization hit him like a train and god, he could barely contain his exitement.  
Asahi looked down at the overjoyed libero in his arms and felt himself grinning like a moron, too. He started to laugh and hugged Nishinoya back for a second, then moved him back into the gym.  
"Great to see you, Noya-san!" he chuckled and received a happy nod. God, Asahi couldn't have been luckier now.

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes onto the scene and scoffed.  
"Nishinoya-san, please don't tell me the King infected you with his insanity."  
"Shut up Tsukishima!" replied the pissed Kageyama.  
Nishinoya finally parted and seemed to get that something was wrong. Why was everyone eying him so weird and disbelieving? It wasn't until his eyes returned to Asahi that he finally realized it. This feeling, Asahi's appearance, it was subtle but everything had changed. The entire scene made suddenly sense, he understood. Nishinoya had developed a wish.

The ace took his hand with an amused smile and bowed down, eyes fixating the libero's. The similar supernatural glim Nishinoya had always seen within Hinata's eyes was entirely the same in Asahi's, and his lips curled up into a happy smile since he knew what this gesture meant, what was going to follow.

"Would you like to make a contract, Noya-san?"

"What is the price?" was the cheeky reply.

"I want to stay visible. During highschool, forever for my team, and forever for you."

"I want to be with you, Asahi-san. Forever. I-I... I don't want to experience that again. I don't want to loose you again."

Asahi smiled, overjoyed and embarassed. He was happy. So happy. The ace bent down, hesitantly cupped Nishinoya's cheeks and captured his lips with his own, whispering "Deal." against them. Nishinoya found himself melting against his ace and couldn't suppress that large grin splitting his face into a half.  
Suddenly, around them, the team began to cheer.  
"ASAHI YOU'RE VISIBLE!!"

Kageyama smirked and exchanged a tiny kiss with his Hinata. This was a new beginning. This time, they were going to crush Aoba Johsai and Oikawa, Shiratorizawa and Ushijima.  
This time, they weren't going to loose.

[The End]


End file.
